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EXPLAINING THE 



Typical Representations and Symbolical Prophecies 

OF THE 

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WITH SPECIAL KEGAKD TO THE 

BOOK OF DANIEL AND THE REVELATION OF ST, JOHN, 






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BY REV. HENRY STETZEL. 



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, REVISED AND ENLARGED 

BY REV. IRVIN C. YEAKEL, 

UNION SEMINARY, NEW BEBLIX, PA, 



YORK, PA: 

Teachers' journal print. 

1881. 






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Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1882, by 

IEVIN C. YEAKEL, 
in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



It has pleased God to give us a book, in which His 
entire will is made known ; it is His word— the Bible. 
That is the light which shines on onr pathway before 
us. In this word He speaks to us in language exceed- 
ingly simple, but at the same time in figures, parables, 
typical representations and symbolical prophecies. 
These last are often difficult to understand, especially 
when their fulfillment takes place only after a long 
time. To them belong pre-eminently the prophecies 
of Daniel and the Revelation of St. John. 

But whatever is obscure before being fulfilled, must 
become clear as soon as consummation takes place. 
The symbolical prophecies of the Old Testament are 
completed and centred in the Apocalypse. This is 
particularly the case with those of Daniel, whose pre- 
dictions, extending through the history of thousands 
of years, are brought out to full view in the symbols 
of the Revelation. 

That many things in the Book of Daniel have to this 
day remained inexplicable, cannot be denied, though 
there is no lack of explanations, for these exist in 
abundance. But it has been deeply felt that clearness 
and harmony are wanting, especially in regard to the 
prophetic chronology of this book. It cannot, there- 
fore be considered presumptuous, when new eftorts 
are made to attain to more perfect certainty and con- 
sistency ; especially as we live in that period in which 
the sealed book is opened, and when, 4 ' many shall run 
to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." Dan. 
xii. 4. 

May then this humble effort to elucidate these won- 
derful prophecies, be the means under God's guidance, 
of approaching nearer to the desired end. To Him. 
the Eternal One, the Creator of all things, be thanks 
forever — Amen. 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION. 

The object for which the Historical Guide was 
written is to enable the thoughtful student of the 
Bible to understand those of its prophetic portions, 
which relate to the great leading events and epochs of 
the world's history, and to verify its predictions by 
pointing out their actual fulfillment. To render the 
same service to the English reader, is the object of the 
present translation, which has been prepared in 
answer to the inquiries of many persons who, on 
seeing the German edition, have expressed a desire of 
having the same book in a language which they could 
better understand.- 

The translator, aided in the revision by the author 
himself, has spared no pains in tryiug to adapt the 
book still better to its great purpose, and asks 
leave to call attention to the following points which, 
it is hoped, will be recognized as improvements upon 
the original : 

1. An attempt to simplify the language, while faith- 
fully preserving the author's meaning. 

2. A more logical arrangement of the topics treated 
in the several sections, and a more careful subdivision 
of those sections themselves. 

3. A fully detailed table of contents, which will en- 
able the reader to turn at once to any desired topic, 

4. The introduction of foot-notes, which will be 
found useful aids toward a fuller understanding of 
the subject discussed. 

5. The addition of a considerable amount of new 
matter to the text, especially to the article on the 
Millennium, and the introduction of two entirely new 
sections: "Was Judas Present?" and " Paul's 
Thorn in the flesh." 

Without claiming that this work is above criticism, 
the translator ventures to hope that it' may meet at 
the hands of an intelligent, truth-seeking public a 
reception at least as favorable as that accorded to the 
German edition, and that many may by its perusal be 
led to see in the facts of history the hand of God, and 
to lay down the book with a strengthened faith in 
the everlasting truth of his word. 

May the all- wise God so direct the reader, that he 
may prove all things herein contained, and hold fast 
to that, and that only, which is good, 

I. 0. I . 



CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER FIRST. 



Pa$c. 



Section I. 
The Tabernacle a Type of Christ, , 9 

Section II. 
Sacrifices and Ceremonial Worship, , IS 

Section III. 

" The Appearance of the Likeness of the Glory 
of the Lord," 23 

1. The Glory of the Lord, according to its 

external form and appearance, . . 23 

2. The Glory of the Lord according to its 

internal Life, Operation and Power, . 26 

3. The Perfect Union of the Exterior and 

Interior 28 

Section IV. 
Isaiah's Vision of the Seraphim, Desci ited 
inch.vi. 1-9, 30 

CHAPTER SECOND 
Section I. 
Chronological Remarks Concerning Daniel's 
Prophecies, 38 

Section II. 
Nebuchadnezzar's Dream and its Interpretation 

by tbe Prophet Daniel, , . 57 

1. The Head of Gold, 59 

2. The Breast and Arras of Silver, . , 61 

3. The Belly and the Thighs of Brass, . . 62 

4. Legs of Iron— Feet of Iron and Clay, . 62 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 



page. 



Section III. 

Of the Stone which, being cut from the Moun- 
tain without Hands, smote the Image upon 
its Feet, and brake it to Pieces, ... 05 

1. Empires are represented by Gold, Silver, 

Brass, Iron and Clay, ... 70 

2. Origin of this Empire, . . . . 71 

3. The Time in which this Empire should be 

established, ..... 76 

4. Its Conquering Power, . . . .77 

5. A universal Empire required, . . 82 

Section IY. 
Two Witnesses, two Olive Trees, two Anointed 
Ones, two Prophets, 84 

1. What is represented by these two wit- 

nesses? 84 

2. The Duration of their Prophecy, . . 88 

3. Their Contest with the Beast of ihe Pit, 89 

4. Their being Dead and their Kesurrection, 91 

CHAPTER THIRD. 
Section I. 

Daniel's Night Vision of the little Horn grow- 
ing out of the Roman Empire, . . 94 

Section II. 

The Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns, . 98 

1. What is represented by this Beast, . 99 

2. The Rising of the Beast from the Sea, . 103 

3. The Shape of the Beast, ... 110 

4. The Beast's Seat, Habitation aud Power, 114 

5. The Beast's Actions, .... 115 

6. The Ruin of the Beast, .... 128 

Section III. 
The Vision of the R im and the Goat, Dan viii, 132 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 7 

Pago. 
Section IV. 
The little Horn growing out of the Greek 

Empire, 136 

1. Its Origin, 136 

2. Its waxing Great, 137 

Section V. 

Antichrist and the Abomination of Desolation, 148 

1. Antichrist, ...... 148 

2. The Abomination of Desolation, > . 155 

CHAPTER FOURTH. 
Section I. 

Daniel's seventy Weeks, ch. ix. 24, 27, . 162 

Section II. 

Seven Weeks and threescore and two Weeks, 172 

Section III. 

The Woman clothed with the San, and 
Michael 1 s contest with the Dragon, ♦ .179 

1. The Great Wonder in Heaven, . . 180 

2. The Woman i n Image of the Church, . 180 
JJ. The Woman's Cries of Travail and, 

Anguish, 183 

4. The Woman's Son an Image of true Gov- 

ernment, 184 

5. The Dragon the Enemy of the Woman, 186 

6. The Removal of the Woman's Child, . 1 87 

7. The Woman's Flight 189 

8. The Persecution of the S:i penn . . 191 

9. The War in Heaven, .... 194 

Section IV. 

The Millennium or Millennial Kingdom, . 200 

1. Events preceding the Millennium, . . 204 

2. The Time of the Millennium, . . 207 
2. The First Resurrection, . 208 



b AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Page. 

4. The Binding of Satan, . . . 209 

5. The Resurrection of the Martyrs, . . 210 

6. The lofty Blessings of the Millennium, 211 

CHAPTER FIFTH. 
Section I. 
The Feet- Washing of Christ, ... 221 

1. Feet- Washing not a Ceremony, . . 223 

2. Feet- Washing did not take place at the 

Passover, 225 

3. No Proof if the Argument be Granted, 234 
4 Feet- Washing has no Foundation in the 

Old Testament, 235 

5. Feet- Washing is not sanctioned by Apos- 
tolic Doctrine or Example, . . 239 

Section II. 
Was Judas Present ? . . . ... 244 

Section III, 
Paul's Thorn in the Flesh, .... 251 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE, 



CHAPTER FIRST. 



SECTIOX I. 



The Tabernacle as a Type. 

God said to Moses: " Speak unto the children 
of Israel, that they bring me an offering : of every 
man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall 
take my offering. And let them make me a sanc- 
tuary; that I may dwell among them. According 
to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tab- 
ernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments 
thereof, even so shall ye make it." Ex. xxv. 2, 8, 9. 

This habitation, with all the furniture pertaining 
to the Divine service, is described in this and the 
two following chapters, exactly according to the 
pattern which the Lord showed to Moses. It 
strikes one to observe the accuracy with which this 
tabernacle of the covenant had to be made and 
finished. Even this shows that, with all its arrange- 
ments and all the appurtenances of worship, it was 
designed for high and holy purposes. This divine 
habitation was divided by a veil into two parts: 
the first part was called " the holy place," the sec- 
ond , "the holy of holies." In the interior of the 
1 



IO AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

"holy of holies" the "ark of the covenant" was 
preserved; upon this ark was placed a "mercy- 
seat," on both ends of which stood two cherubim 
with wings spread out and faces turned toward 
each other, looking down upon the mercy-seat, as if 
desiring to look in. 

Within the ark of the covenant were the stone 
tablets, on which were written the ten command- 
ments of God; also a golden vessel filled with 
manna, and the rod of Aaron, the high priest, 
which as a testimony had budded and borne al- 
monds. These three sacred and precious things 
were preserved in the ark. 

Outside of the veil, in the first part of the taber- 
nacle, in the "holy place," stood a table with the 
show-bread and a candlestick with seven lamps. 
Near the veil stood a little altar, on which incense 
was to be offered every morning. Exod. xxx. 6. 7. 

Such was the habitation of the glory of the Lord. 
This glory appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, 
when he received the law. " And the glory of the 
Lord dwelled upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud cov- 
ered it six days ; and the seventh day he called to 
Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the 
sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring 
fire on the top of the mount." Exod. xxiv. 16, 17. 
After the completion of the tabernacle this sight of 
the glory dwelt therein amid the Israelites, and the 
manifold service, and ceremonies all were typical 
sacred objects and functions — sacred only as being 
typical — until the appointed time. This habita- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 1 

tion of the Israelites was overshadowed, and the 
sight of the Divine presence was as a pillar of 
<cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. 

These two apartments of the tabernacle are a 
figure of the kingdom of God on earth and in 
heaven. The "holy place" is a type of the Chris- 
tian church and worship on earth. 

This holy place had a candlestick with seven 
lamps, a type of the full illumination of the Chris- 
tian church by the Holy Spirit. It is illumined 
sevenfold, that is, fully. It has for its Founder " the 
true light which lighteth every man ; " and He walks 
" in the midst of the seven candlesticks — and His 
•countenance is as the sun shineth in his strength." 
Rev. i. 1 2- r 6. The Spirit of the Lord, in the in- 
exhaustible fullness of light and grace, going forth 
from the Father and the Son, is the element of 
light and life in the kingdom of Christ on earth. 
He is the leader of all God's children, and under 
His gentle influence they receive a continual sup- 
ply of salutary powers, to walk in the light of the 
Lord. Hence also they walk in the light, and are 
children of light, and by means of this heavenly il- 
lumination become a light of the world and a salt 
of the earth. 

These lamps had to be kept continually burning, 
and it was made the duty of the priests to keep 
them burning day and night. Our High Priest 
provides a continual supply of oil; the lamps in His 
church burn constantly, giving out light and heat, 
and the Holy Spirit even yet finds tongues, which 



12 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

He may kindle with His hallowed fire, and v\hich 
spread light and life in all directions. 

The table with the skew-bread indicates that 
there is and must be a supply of bread in the econ- 
omy of the gospel, according to the wants of all 
the people, since the twelve tribes of Israel were 
represented by twelve loaves. Christ is the bread 
of life, and of his fullness we receive grace for 
grace. The deep fallen sinner can find deliver- 
ance with Jesus Christ, for where sin has become 
powerful His grace has grown still more powerful. 
The table of the gospel is covered, the great sup- 
per is prepared, and the whole world invited to 
come; for the Lord of the supper said to His ser- 
vant "Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of 
the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the 
maimed, and the halt, and the blind. " And fur- 
ther : "Go out into the highways and hedges, and 
constrain them to come in, that my house may be 
filled." Luke xiv. 21. 23. 

The Altar which stood before the mercy- 
seat, so that only the veil was between it and thar r 
and on which none but the best of incense was to 
be offered, shows that we are to approach quite 
near to the mercy-seat, and that in close proximity 
thereto, though we do not see it, we are to bring; 
our most intimate concerns before God as a sacri- 
fice upon the altar, and to offer up even our dear- 
est and the best to the God from whom every good 
gift comes down. Every morning offering had to 
be made there ; so we also should every morning, 



AX HISTORICAL GUIDE. I J 

devote our whole hearts to the Lord, and bring our 
offering of praise and thanks to the God, whose 
goodness is new toward us every day, that it may 
rise to the mercy-seat as a sweet smelling savor, 
and we become partakers of his help. 

The holy Of holies represents heaven. 
Therein was the ark of the covenant, with the fab- 
Jets of the law. The law of God was engraved 
upon these two stone tablets. Under the new cov- 
enant it is to be otherwise with the law : instead of 
being written upon tablets of stone, it is to be writ- 
ten in the heart and in the mind. " Behold, the 
days come, saith the Lord,' that I will make a new 
covenant with the house of Israel; and this shall 
be the covenant that I will make with the house of 
Israel ; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put 
my law in their inward parts, and write it in their 
hearts ; and will be their God, and they shall be 
my people." Jer. xxxi. 31-33. That, in the econ- 
omy of the gospel, the time has arrived in which 
this is to be fulfilled, is confirmed by the Epistle to 
the Hebrews, wherein it is said that this is the tes- 
tament of a better High Priest — of "a more excel- 
lent ministry, the mediator of a better covenant." 
Heb. viii. 1-6. "I will put my law in their inward 
parts, and write it in their hearts." This is done 
in the conversion and regeneration of the sinner. 
Then the law of Divine love is impressed by the 
Holy Spirit upon the renewed heart. 

In the ark of the covenant, in the holy of holies, 
there was a golden pot with manna — some of the 



14 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

manna which the people ate in the wilderness. 
The manna could not be kept longer than a day r 
except over the Sabbath ; but this, being preserved 
in the ark, could be kept for a longer time without 
putrefying. 

This was a typical bread, representing the bread 
of life, which Jesus Christ has become for all. "I 
am the bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna 
in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread 
which cometh down from heaven, that a man eat 
thereof, and not die .... If any man eat of this 
bread, he shall live forever." John vi. 48. 51. The 
manna is also called bread of heaven. Ps. cv. 40. 
and in the German translation it is so called ii> 
Heb. ix. 4.* Probably it is called so because it 
was not given to the people in an ordinary, but in 
a miraculous manner. So also this bread of life 
comes in a miraculous manner, to us now. " To 
the asking shall be given the most precious gifts of 
heaven." He that asks not will not obtain. What 
a glorious arrangement, that right above the ark of 
the covenant stands the seat of mercy ! 

The next is the rod of Aaron, in a budding and 
fruit-bearing condition. 

There was an insurrection among the Israelites, 
caused by Korah and his company, who rose 
against Moses and Aaron, concerning the priest- 
hood. The Lord commanded a rod to be placed 
in the tabernacle, by every prince of his tribe to 

* In wekher war die goldene Gelte, die das Himmel- 
brod hatte. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 5 

give testimony as to whom the office of the high- 
priest had been committed by the Lord. The 
names of the princes of each tribe were written upon 
their rods, and that of Aaran was written upon the 
rod of Levi. The rods were placed into the taber- 
nacle and the next morning carried before all the 
people, when every prince's rod was given back to 
him. It was then found that the rod of Aaron had 
grown and born almonds ; and so its budding and 
bearing fruit was a testimony, that the Lord had 
chosen him as high priest. This rod was after- 
wards preserved in the ark of the covenant. Mes- 
siah is the High Priest appointed by God after the 
order of Melchisedec, hence He is of olden descent, 
and is made the surety of a better testament Heb. 
vii. 21. 22. By the words "Thou art a priest for- 
ever" is meant that his priest -hood is to be perpet- 
ual and unchangeable also, which was not the case 
with the priest-hood of Aaron. In this respect it 
was not like the latter. Still the priest-hood of 
Aaron was a type of the high priest-hood of Christ, 
though only for a limited time — until the coming 
of Christ. Then the figure had to cease, because 
the real and lasting high priest-hood had begun. 

Our High Priest also has in the upper sanctuary 
a wonderful testimony of His priest-hood; so also 
of His sacrifice — of His unspeakably great sacrifice, 
which he offered up on the day of the world's atone- 
ment for the sins of all the world. The Father 
and the Holy Spirit bear witness of him. The Fa- 
ther has sworn : "Thou art a priest forever;" and 



1 6 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

the Holy Spirit bears witness in the hearts of all 
God's children even on earth, that only by means 
of His high priestly sacrifice they become children, 
and thus are made kings and priests. This testi- 
mony is continued in heaven for ever and ever, by 
innumerable armies that have found their salvation 
in the blood of the Lamb. There is the army of 
martyrs ! These present a powerful testimony for 
the Lord Jesus, a testimony by which the founda- 
tions of hell are shaken, and the habitations of the 
pit with all the demons are terrified. These cham- 
pions with their testimony occupy the first rank. 
O sublime and glorious kingdom ! The testimony 
of this marvelous host must move the very heavens. 
Willingly we would stand behind them, and listen 
with amazement to what they have to say; but 
when it will be the turn of the entire blood-washed 
army — that innumerable army, to which we too 
shall belong — there will indeed be a voice as of 
strong thunder and the rush of mighty waters, an 
indescribable anthem of Alleluia,- which perhaps 
will pervade the entire universe of the Almighty ; 
which may inspire even the expectant angel-world 
with new living fire, and attune them to a new song 
of adoration. In the mean time those who are 
above, are givirfg their testimony, until the entire 
host shall meet on the great bridal day of the Lamb. 
That bridal day — the day of salvation completed — 
will make a new epoch in all celestial worlds. — 
Thanks to the Almighty ! 

Thus the sceptre of the King and High Priest, 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 7 

•whom we confess, Jesus Christ, is blossoming and 
bearing fruit. 

Above this ark with the tablets of the law, the manna 
and Aaron's rod, stood the mercy-seat, and cherubim 
■stood upon it. All this was made of fine gold. 

The mercy-seat was the sacred place, whence the 
Lord spake to the people through the high priest. 
^'And there," said the Lord to Moses, ''will I meet 
with thee, and I will commune with thee from 
above the mercy-seat, from between the two cheru- 
bim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of 
all things which I will give thee in commandment 
unto the children of Israel. " Exod. xxv. 22. 

This holy place was designed as a sacred habita- 
tion, where God might be consulted, and the people 
obtain answers from Him through their high priest. 
All that God had to say, to testify, and to command, 
should proceed from the place of His habitation. 
However, this habitation was but typical, of short 
duration, and designed only for the children of Israel. 
But once a year their high priest might enter, and 
that was on the feast of universal atonement, the 
tenth day of the seventh month, Tisri, (also called 
Ethanim), according to our era, the 24th of Septem- 
ber. That our High Priest and Mediator came down 
to us from the heavenly habitation of his Father, 
that Himself became an offering of atonement for 
us, that sprinkled with His own blood, Here-entered 
the upper sanctuary, and there raised for us a mercy- 
seat surrounded by angels, is a long-settled matter, 
and for us a matter of indescribable value. 



I 8 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

SECTION II. 



Sacrifices and Ceremonial Worship. 

The high priest was the chief person employed 
in the sacred service on the day of atonement. He 
did not appear in his usual dress, but in a simple 
linen vestment, designed for this festivity. Lev. xvi. 
4. He wore a frontlet with the inscription : " Ho- 
/mess to the Lord." Upon his breast he bore a 
breast-plate of judgment, with the names of the 
twelve tribes of Israel engraved upon precious 
stones. This is the Urim and Thummin, or light 
and perfection. Thus the whole congregation was 
represented in him, for he bore it with light and 
perfection upon his breast before the Lord. 

Before he entered the holy of holies, he had to 
bring a bullock as a sin-offering, to make atonement 
for himself and his family. With the blood of this 
sacrifice he had to sprinkle himself, and to take 
a part with him into the sanctuary to sprinkle the 
mercy-seat. It was necessary for him to sanctify 
himself first, and, sprinkled with the blood of his 
sin-offering, he was permitted to appear before Je- 
hovah. He took incense with him, in order that he 
might first fill the sanctuary with smoke ; then he 
sprinkled the mercy-seat seven times with his fin- 
ger. Afterwards the sin-offering of the people was 
offered up. Two goats were brought forth. All 
the sins and iniquities of the congregation were 
laid upon the head of the one destined thereto by 
lot. The high priest laid his hands upon its head, 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 9 

making a confession of all the people's sins ; after- 
wards the goat was led into the wilderness, and 
thus had to carry the people's iniquities away 
thither. The other goat was killed for a sin-offer- 
ing. With its blood Aaron sprinkled himself and 
the people, and entering the sanctuary, he sprinkled 
the mercy-seat and the other furniture. Thus the 
priestly office, the people and the tabernacle of 
testimony were sanctified. 

Now for the reality. Our Messiah, Mediator, 
and High Priest came to us out of pure love; and 
was given to us through the pure love of God. 
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him, 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." He 
bore "holiness to the Lord" upon his face. He 
knew no sin, though "He made Himself of no rep- 
utation, and took upon Him the form of a servant." 
But He had to offer up sacrifices also, and these 
had to be better than the typical sacrifices were. 
"In the days of His flesh, He offered up prayers 
and supplications, with strong crying and tears, 
unto Him that was able to save Him from death; 
and was heard in that He feared." Heb. v. 7. 
Above all things He had to bring a sin-offering for 
the whole v> orld, and it must be better than the 
blood of goats, and heifers, and sheep. Therefore 
He gave Himself as an offering for sin; " for if the 
blood of bulls and of goats sanctifieth to the puri- 
fying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood 
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered 



2D AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Himself without spot to God, purge your con- 
science from dead works, to serve the living God ?" 
Heb. ix. 13. 14. "But now once in the end of 
the world, hath He appeared, to put away sin by 
the sacrifice of Himself." v. 26. 

As the high priest entered the sanctuary being 
sprinkled with the blood of others, so Christ en- 
tered heaven, the better sanctuary, sprinkled with 
His own blood of atonement for many. He has 
no need of entering every year, for His is the one 
sacrifice for sin, " made once for all," and " by one 
offering He hath perfected forever, them that are 
sanctified." Heb. x. 10, 12, 14. 

The true Messiah now appears, 
The types are all withdrawn; 

So 11 y the shadows and the stars 
Before the rising dawn. 

No smoking sweets, nor bleeding lambs, 

Nor kid, nor bullock slain; 
Incense and spice of costly names, 

Would all be burnt in vain . 

He took our mortal flesh to show 

The wonders of his love; 
For us he paid his life below, 

And prays for us above. 

" Father," he cries, " forgive their sins, 

For I myself have died;" 
And then he shows his open veins, 

And pleads his wounded side. Watts . 

" Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away 
the sin of the world." " He was wounded for our 
transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities ; 
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; and 
with His stripes we are healed." Isa. liii. 5. In 



AX HISTORICAL GUIDE. 21 

like manner as one of the beasts of sacrifice had to 
bear all the iniquities of the people, so the Lamb 
of God bears the sins of all the world; for the pun- 
ishment of sins rests upon Him, and with His 
stripes we are healed. He carries them into the 
wilderness — away, where they are no longer seen, 
and where they will never again be remembered 
against us, in so far as we penitently pray for forgive- 
ness and believingly feel that our hearts are cleansed 
and sanctified by the blood of His atonement. 

We have passed over these glorious typical ser- 
vices with all possible brevity, so as to render that 
which is real and essentially holy the more conspic- 
uous. In conclusion let us take to heart some of 
the privileges granted. 

Only the priests were allowed to enter the holy 
place every day; the high- priest alone was permit- 
ted to enter the holy of holies once a year. But 
He that hath loved us, and washed away our sins 
with his blood, hath made us kings and priests 
before God His Father; therefore we, as the 
priestly race, may at all times offer up our gifts in 
His Church, and shall at last be with Him in the 
sanctuary. When our High Priest had completed 
His sacrifice upon the cross, and cried out : " It is 
finished! " the veil was rent, and with "open face" 
we can look into the sanctuary of God. Thither 
our Mediator has entered, and become our surety 
and our intercessor. Not that we should have His 
law written on stones, but it should be written in 
our hearts and minds by God's spirit. The manna 



2 2 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

is not to remain in the ark, but this bread of life is 
to be eaten, so that we may actually receive life 
everlasting. The high priestly rod, budding and 
bearing fruit is not merely to serve as a dead mon- 
ument but it is to be an everlasting, living testi- 
mony, showing how a divinely gentle element of 
government, fraught with peace and salvation, 
may penetrate a bad, corrupt and stubborn world, 
to bring millions unto obedience to Christ and to 
the recognition of the Lord's Anointed as the God- 
sent Redeemer of the world. Then they will bear 
witness to the glory of God the Father, that this 
Messiah is the Lord. 

" And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing 
the mercy seat." We may with boldness draw near 
to the mercy -seat; for our Mediator has gone 
thither, and He is our surety and intercessor. 
"Of this place let me speak to you." There is no 
calamity so great, that we may not come to the 
mercy-seat of God, to entreat and expect help. It 
is a throne of grace. God will be merciful. In 
all concerns, in pain and sickness, in distress, af- 
fliction, anguish, and persecution, in good and 
evil days, in honor and dishonor, in evil reports 
and good reports — all the wide world has free ac- 
cess to this incomparable mercy-seat; for the veil 
is rent, the new living way stands open, and we 
have " boldness to enter into the holiest by the 
blood of Jesus." Heb. x. 19. 

To Him, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, be 
thanks and adoration forever ! Amen. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 23 

SECTION III. 



■"The Appearance of the Likeness of the 

Glory of the Lord," as seen by the 

Prophet Ezekiel, ch. i. 

In this vision the prophet, being among the cap- 
tives of his people by the river of Chebar in the 
land of the Chaldeans, saw the glorious, divine ad- 
ministration of the Lord among the people of this 
earth. " The appearance of the likeness of the glory 
of the Lord" is described in the preceding section. 

It was pre-eminently the glory, grace, and good 
will toward men contained in the exalted rule of 
the gospel, that were made apparent to the prophet 
in splendor and brightness ; a fact sufficiently 
proved by the rainbow which surrounded the throne 
of power, as a sign of the covenant and of grace. 

I. The Glory of the Lord, according to 
its external Form and Appearance. 

t . This glory, in its outward form and appearance, 
consisted in a cloud brought on by a wind out of the 
north, " and a fire enfolding itself with a bright- 
ness about it, and out of the midst thereof as the 
color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.' 1 V. 4. 
Christ, " the angel of the Lord," appeared above 
the tabernacle in the wilderness in a pillar of a 
tloud and in a pillar of fire. Jehovah was arrayed 
in a cloud on Mount Sinai. Clouds form the rai 
ment of the Lord, when he appears to converse 
with men. This is a ^oud of fire, because the 
glory of Jehovah shines through it. 



24 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

It was brought on by an invisible power, a whirl- 
wind out of the north. According to the traditions 
and opinions of ancient nations, the north is the 
abode of the gods. An invisible element brought 
this cloud to view out of midnight daikness, in an 
inconceivable manner. Its appearance is that of 
a fire. Thus the wonderful incarnation of God in 
Christ, or His being arrayed in flesh and blood, was 
accompanied by an invisible Power, and in a man- 
ner to us dark and mysterious. "And the Word 
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we be- 
held His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of 
the Father, full of grace and truth." John i. 14. 
The former is an image of the latter. 

2. Four living creatures, and one had the like- 
ness of a man. Each one had the hands of a man 
and four wings — two for locomotion, and two as a 
covering. Each one also had four faces — the face 
of a man, of a lion, of an ox, and of an eagle. A 
wonderful combination of the whole animated cre- 
ation ! Mankind are represented by the face of a 
man, birds by that of the eagle, beasts of prey by 
that of the lion, and tame beasts by that of the ox. 

Animal forms are types of the sovereignties of 
certain countries and nations, as may be seen in Dan. 
vii. i)-%. But this conjunction of the whole living T 
creation proves that this divine rule is universal 
and must be a unity in itself. The fact that it is 
associated with the glory of the Lord shows that 
it is the kingdom of God on earth, the kingdom of 
the gospel, administered by God and man — the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 2$. 

latter kind of administration being here typified by 
the hands of a man — and destined to become a 
blessing to the whole living creation. The hands 
of a man signify human operation. Wings are a- 
symbol of readiness, swiftness; feet of progress, and 
steadfastness; eyes of light, knowledge, vigilance; 
fire of energy, zeal, judgment, punishment, holiness. 

3. " One wheel upon the earth by the living creat- 

tares with the four faces Their wings were so 

high that they were dreadful, and their wings were 
full of eyes round about them four." v. 15. 18. 

A wheel is an instrument of support and motion. 
Its standing and moving on the earth shows the re- 
lation of God's rule to the civil government of the 
earth; for this also must come entirely under the 
influence of the gospel. Civil authority, legislative 
and executive, carries not only the sword, but the 
great burden of care for the people ; and like a 
wheel, it is capable of sustaining heavy burdens 
and still keep in motion. 

"Full of eyes round about them" — to watch 
everywhere and over all, to guard every right. 
These wheels were so closely combined with the 
cherubim of the vision, that one " spirit of the liv- 
ing creature " set them in motion. This shows that 
these authorities though different, both stand un- 
der the influence of God's spirit, and must harmon- 
ize in everything. Messiah is King and High 
Priest, and administers the offices of both, in each 
capacity it is God ruling on earth. 



26 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

4. Upon the heads of the living creatures or 
cherubim was "the likeness of the firmament as the 
color of cry star and above this the appearance of a 
saphire stone, and upon the likeness of the throne 
was the likeness as the appearance of a man above 
upon it, and fr oi?t the appearance of his loins even 
downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, 
like the rainbow in the day of rain. Ver. 22-28. 

Crystal is a symbol of purity and brightness ; a 
throne of the office of a judge or ruler. Saphire, a 
blue gem, is an image of splendor and costliness; 
The firmament above of pleasantness, grace and 
favor. The whole represents a splendid, precious 
and gracious seat of power — a mercy-seat. 

Upon this throne is the appearance of a man. 
It is Christ seated upon the throne of His kingly 
and high priestly power. " As the appearance of 
the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so 
was the appearance of the brightness round about." 
The arch of the covenant spans the whole, and a 
fire of earnestness, of z^al and of holiness flashes 
through this vision of glory. 

II. The Glory of the Lord according to 

ITS INTERNAL LlFE, OPERATION AND POWER. 

i. It was "as the color of amber, out of the midst 
of the fire r " In Him (Christ) dwelleth all the full- 
ness of the Godhead bodily." Col. ii. 9. "God 
was in Christ." 2 Cor. v. 19. He is " the true 
light, which lighteth every man." A cloud without, 
and light, power and fire within : the man Christ 
without, the fullness of the Godhead within. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 2 7 

2. The vision of the living creatures or cherubim 
appeared in the interior brightness, which was sur- 
rounded by the cloud. Cherubim are a division of 
the angels of heaven; they indicate that in our di- 
vine Redeemer, the creatures of heaven (the angels) 
are united with God's children on earth, in order 
to administer, by the power of His spirit, in a civil 
and ecclesiastical way, the kingdom He has brought 
-down from heaven unto earth. They mean, in 
short, that by virtue of Christ's incarnation heaven 
and earth are united in Him and employed in His 
Tcingdom of light. 

3. The wheel upon the earth, the executive force 
•of civil authority is se*t in motion by a spirit — " the 
spirit of the living creature " — the internal power 
•of the Spirit of the Lord. It can only go whither 
the Spirit is to go," and it cannot turn when it 
goes. Thus all the powers of earth, still have to 
•come under the gentle sway of the gospel. 

4. The firmament of crystal the sapphire throne 
and the rainbow animated by indwelling fire, light, 
splendor and glory. Here is Emmanuel, God 
-with us in His gospel kingdom. 

"O Lord my God, Thou art very great; Thou 
art clothed with honor and majesty; who coverest 
Thyself with light as with a garment ; who stretch- 
iest out the heavens like a curtain ; who layeth the 
T>eams of His chambers in the waters ; who mak- 
-eth the clouds His chariot ; who walketh upon the 
-wings of the wind; who maketh His angels spirits 
His ministers a flaming fire." Ps. civ. 1-4. 



28 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

III. The Perfect Union of the Exterior 
and the Interior. 

The "spirit of the living creatures" is both im- 
pulse and direction of the living creatures and the 
wheels; for only whither this was to go, they went. 
Ver. 20. 

1. They were thus made ready to go, and to give- 
forth a glorious brightness. V. 13. "For if the 

ministration of condemnation be glory, much more 
doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in 
glory." 2 Cor. iii. 9. 

2. They were set in motion. The human hands, 
feet and wings of the cherubim, and the wheels- 
upon the earth received their moving impulse from 
the " spirit of the living creature." 

In like manner the plan of salvation for the con- 
version of mankind, and the plan of governing 
mankind must be carried out by the spirit of the 
Lord and the breath of His mouth, the word of the 
Lord. 

3. " The livi?tg creatures ran and returned as the 
appearance of a flash of lightning" v. 15. "Be- 
hold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his 
chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with 
fury and His rebuke with flames of fire." Isa. lxvi. 
15. "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, 
even thousands of angels, the Lord is among them,, 
as in Sinai, in the holy place." Ps. lxviii. 17. 

"The noise of their wings is like the noise of 
great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the 
voice of speech, as the noise of an host." v. 24. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 20 

His advance to the judgment of the wicked pow 
ers, especially of the false church, after having given 
them all an opportunity to repent, exhausts this 
language ; and after His victory over them it is said 
in Rev. xix. 6 : " And I heard as it were the voice of 
a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, 
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Al- 
leluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 

4. Their standing and the 6C voice from the firm- 
ament over their heads w hen they stood." The 
same internal power that set them in motion caused 
them to stand still. 

To stand still is to tarry, to wait in some work, 
and not in all cases, to cease. God often delays 
the chariot of His gospel, until a nation becomes 
ripe for it ; His punishments also linger often, be- 
cause He has much patience with mankind: but 
while He lingers, it thunders in the sky. 

Thunderings are threats of punishment. When 
His rights are not acknowledged by a nation, He 
thunders — He threatens. If this be unavailing, 
lightning goes forth out of the fire (v. 13), like the 
lightning that goes before the devastating tempest 
and hail-storm. Examples: — the deluge, the ruin 
•of Sodom, the destruction of Jerusalem, and our 
Southern States. 

"The Lord shall war from on high, and utter 
His voice from His holy habitation." Jer. xxv. 30. 

"The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to 
pieces; out of heaven shall He thunder upon them." 
1 Sam. ii. 10. 



30 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

44 And the temple of God was opened in heaven., 
and there was seen in His temple the ark of His- 
testament; and there were lightnings, and voices r 
and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great: 
hail." Rev. xi. 19. 

Thou spreadst the firmament 

By Thine all-moving power, 
At Thy command, the clouds 

Send down the rushing shower, 
Thy voice, O glorious Lord! 

With tempests fills the sky, 
Makes thunders crash and roar, 

And direful lightnings fly. 

Thy wisdom infinite 

The UDiverse is molding, 
In every leaf and stone 

One vast design unfolding. 
Endless diversity 

Yet shows in every part 
A harmony that fills 

With joy th' admiring heart. 

t 

SECTION IV. 



Isaiah's Vision of the Seraphim, described 
in Ch. vi. 1-9 
"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also 
the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up r 
and His train filled the temple. Above it stood 
the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain 
he covered his face, and with twain he covered his 
feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto 
another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of 
hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And 
the posts of the door moved at the voice of him 
that cried, and the house was filled with smoke." 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 3 I 

This seraphic vision is full of glory, beauty and 
sublimity. The whole is a picture of the most ex- 
alted dignity and lovliness. It is quite different 
from the visions of cherubim described in other 
passages of Holy Writ. The images of cherubim 
always represent a contest and an opposition , they 
are types of sovereignties, of triumph and victory r 
of advancing and prevailing in a cause, in spite of 
all adversity. This seraphic vision is rather a type 
of enjoyment and possession, of pleasure and most 
devout gratitude; in short, it is more a feast of joy, 
a delight of victory, than the rest. Its 1 elation to 
them is like that of so many hundred years of 
bloody struggles for the church to the millennium, 
as the thousand years of peace. 

Isaiah saw Jehovah, Sabaoth, or the Lord of hosts 
upon an exalted throne. This throne, with its glo- 
rious surroundings, was in the temple. Who was 
this Jehovah? He is "the angel of the Lord," the 
messenger of God. He appeared to Abraham and 
spake to him concerning the ruin of Sodom; he 
was Jehovah who "rained brimstone and fire from 
the Lord Jehovah out of heaven." Gen. xix. 24. 
God said unto Abraham : "Offer thy son for a 
burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I 
will tell thee of." Gen. xxii. 2. Abraham went 
unto the place of which God had told him, both 
he and his son "came to the place which God had 
told him of." Take notice: God commanded > 
God chose the place, Abraham was obedient un- 
to God, and came to the place which He had 



32 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

chosen, v. 3-9. But when Abraham was ready 
to sacrifice, and had already drawn the knife to 
slay his son, " the angel of the Lord called unto 
him out of heaven, and said, Lay not thine hand 
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him : 
for now I know thou fearest God, seeing thou hast 
not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." v. 
11. 12. This angel said that Abraham had done 
all this for his sake. He speaks as if he were God, 
who had commanded Abraham to do all this! But 
each is the language of the Bible — the " angel of the 
Lord" is an angel, he is Jehovah, and he is God. 
He is Christ in God and God in Christ, and the 
Spirit of the Father and the Son — the only God. 
Isaiah therefore saw the glory of Christ. John xii. 
41. This vision can represent no other than Christ, 
the glorified, sitting upon the throne of the gospel, 
in His temple, His church on earth. 

The ministry of the gospel is under the direct in- 
fluence of the Lord Jesus and His Spirit. There 
never was a time in which He left the right of call- 
ing this ministry to another. This right he re- 
serves to Himself, and will not entrust it to any 
one else. True, the church, His congregation, ap- 
proves His calls: and why? Because the Holy 
Spirit animates His congregation, and the word of 
His grace, proclaimed by the ministry of the Gos- 
pel, flows into His congregation as a pure vital 
force, by which it is nourished, strengthened and 
built up; while at the same time it is penetrated by 
exceeding great glory from the face of the Lord. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. $$ 

The Spirit of calling, the Spirit of ministration, the 
Spirit in the word, the Spirit of the congregation- 
is all one and the same Spirit, in whom "the ministra- 
tion of the Spirit be rather glorious ! " 2 Cor. iii 8. 
The glory of the gospel, compared with that of the 
Mosaic dispensation, is exceedingly great, if then, 
they had to veil their faces before that, it must not 
appear surprising, that the seraphim cover their 
faces before Him who sits upon the throne, and 
fiom whom such glory goes forth over his "pecu- 
liar people." Therefore Paul says in 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass 
the glory of the Lord, and changed into the same 
image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of 
the Lord." 

This throne and temple, and the Lord's sitting 
upon the throne in the temple still relate to His 
work in this world as Messiah, with but this diff- 
erence, that, in regard to time, it represents a 
period in which the gospel shall have gained vie 
tory over the mass of nations here on earth. 

The train filled the tetnple." The splendor and 
glory of His royal robes filled His church, the com- 
pany of His believers. They see Him, the King 
in His beauty. Isa. xxxiii. 17. He shows Himself 
unto them in all His beauty, as their deliverer 
from all sin, their comforter in distress, their help 
in need, their refuge in temptation, and their guide 
through the dreadful night of death. In this they 
see all other beauties, that are like a balm for 
every ill, answering to every care, supplying every 



34 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

need of the human heart. "Thou art fairer than 1 
the children of men; grace is poured into Thy 
lips." Ps. xlv. 2. 

" The temple was filled with smoke" Smoke 
arises from the altar of incense, standing in the 
sanctuary, opposite the mercy-seat. Upon this the 
congregation lay their offerings of thanks; for "in 
every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanks- 
giving, they let their requests be made known unto 
God." Phil. iv. 6. Thus they appear in this tem- 
ple, with "golden vials full of odors, which are the 
prayers of the saints." Rev. v. 8. The temple be- 
ing full of smoke proves that a perfect offering of 
prayer, praise and thanksgiving is presented, and 
shows the state of the church as answering the pur- 
pose of the Lord. 

" Above it stood the seraphim, each one had six 
wings; with twain he covered his face, and with 
twain Ve covered his feet, and with twain he did 
fly" The word seraph originally means splendor, 
fiery brightness, beauty and glory. These living 
forms of glory stood above the throne of the glori- 
ous gospel. They were a choir of angels, a com- 
pany of singers. The contents of their hymns are 
sublime. We must imagine to ourselves their time 
and harmony, as well as the sound of their voices; 
for only in thought and imagination we can con- 
sider it — the reality exceeds all our comprehension. 
They were singing as angels only can sing. We 
heard an incomparable angel-song at the birth of 
Christ. Their "Glory to God in the highest" and 



AX HISTORICAL GUIDE. 35 

their u Peace on earth, good-will toward men " 
have for centuries resounded through all the re- 
gions of the earth. Millions have heard them, and 
millions more will hear them in time to come. 

This angelic song is of a quite different charac- 
ter and import. It is: "Holy, holy, holy is the 
Lord of hosts ! " The holiness of the Lord is the 
theme of their song, and the wonder which they 
adore. It is an excellent theme, for God not only 
is holy, but holiness itself. In view of His opera- 
tions He is a sanctifying Being, and all sacred ob- 
jects have been made or become so through Him. 
A sanctifying power goes forth from Him into 
an unholy world of sinners, by which impure hu- 
manity may be cleansed, sanctified, and even glori- 
fied. This sanctifying power is admirably recog- 
nized by the words of their hymn, in which it is 
said: "All the earth is full of His glory." What 
else promotes the glory of God more than the con- 
version of the sinner, and the cleansing and sancti- 
iication of impure and unholy men ? It is the holy 
element which proceeds from the mercy- seat, and 
by the "word of His grace" penetrates the evil 
mass of the nations, that can effect deliverance 
and holiness, and gather a host of blood- washed 
souls for the upper sanctuary. 

7 he conduct of the seraphim. Each one with 
two wings, covered his face. This is a sign of mod- 
esty and reverence. Their conduct was respectful, 
and their reverential attitude made their song holy, 
grand and sublime beyond all thought- "With 



$6 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

twain he covered his feet." The term feet signi- 
fies the lower part of the body. A sign of holy 
awe and gentle modesty. "With twain he did fly." 
Flying is a symbol of rapidity and swiftness; it 
shows that they can and will most readily and 
speedily execute the commands of the Lord. 

The effect of their singing. "The posts of the 
door moved at the voice of him that cried and the 
house was filled with smoke." The upper sanctu- 
ary was set in motion by this powerful crying, and 
the singing of "Holy, holy, holy!" Sacrifices 
were offered below, and so the house was filled 
with their smoke — "the prayers of the saints." 
These things worked together, for there is a working 
together in the whole kingdom of God, in heaven and 
earth. The angels are our protectors, and rejoice 
when sinners come to repentance. They are inter- 
ested in the salvation of men, because its completion 
will also restore their affairs to their proper order, 
which was disturbed by the fall of the angels. 

Remarkable was the effect produced upon Isaiah 
by this vision. "Woe is me! for I am undone," 
he said; "because I am a man of unclean lips, 
and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean 
lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord 
of hosts." But where a royal mercy-seat is set up, 
to which all have free access, no penitent sinner 
can be lost. One of the seraphim took a live coal 
from the altar, and laid it upon his mouth, and 
said: " Lo, this hath touched thy lips ; and thine 
iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 37 

This language is figurative and poetical. The 
seraph was the means of taking a live coal from 
the altar, with the aid of another instrument, the 
tongs. The altar was the place where the fire 
had to be kept continually burning. The fire was 
sacred, and had originally come down from heaven. 
It is a fire of sacrifice, a fire of prayer; and with 
this sacred fire of prayer our tongues are cleansed, 
so that we can converse with the holy God and 
speak for His cause. Without this sacred fire, our 
tongues remain both heavy and unclean ; but by 
its touch they are cleansed. Angels and men may 
be the means of procuring these live coals for others. 
The whole transaction seems to allude to the read- 
iness of teaching and preaching in public, as is 
proved by the readiness of Isaiah. To the Lord's 
question: "Whom shall I send, and who will go 
for us?" he replied, quickly and resolutely: "Here 
am I ; send me." 



CHAPTER SECOND. 

1 

SECTION I. 

Chronological Remarks concerning Daniel's 
Prophecies. 

It is of special importance to know the periods 
and divisions of time mentioned in this book. If 
we understand the chronological statements in re- 
gard to periodical limits, the events within those 
limits will become clear and comprehensible ; if we 
fail in these, then many things in this book will re- 
main obscure. The Biblical chronology must be 
the only correct one ; but the many statements of 
chronologers, and their many different explana- 
tions of Bible periods, form a complete labyrinth ; 
hence also the manifold interpretations of this 
prophet. The chronological statements here fol- 
lowing are borrowed from Wm. Thurman's " Bible 
Chronology." Thurman holds fast to the Biblical 
era, and by means of astronomical proofs seeks to 
confirm the testimony of the Bible, and to make it 
correspond to that of the world's history ; hence it 
is that in certain cases, by the computation of so- 
lar and lunar eclipses, he states not only years, but 
days and hours. 

Josiah was the last king of Judah instituted in 
the legal order, before the Babylonish captivity of 
the Jews. He was killed by the Egyptians in a 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 39 

battle near Megiddo. 2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30. From 
that day Judah became subject, or tributary to 
Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt. Indeed, the peo- 
ple had his son, Jehoahaz, proclaimed king ; but 
Judah was already in the hands of Nechoh, who 
took Jehoahaz a prisoner to Egypt, where he died. 
Pharaoh-nechoh appointed Jehoiakim, another son 
of Josiah, as king of Judah, on condition of his 
paying a hundred talents of silver and a talent of 
gold. 2 Kings xxiii. 31-37. After this, Judah be- 
came tributary to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. 
This monarch subjected Egypt, and took Jehoia- 
chim a prisoner to Babylon, making the son of the 
latter, Jehoviachin, king of Judah; after three 
months he also took him captive, and made Zede- 
kiah king. Thus the kings of Judah were institut- 
ed and deposed at the will of their rulers. 2. Kings 
xxiv. 12-17; chap. xxv. 7 and 2 Chron. xxxvi. 

5_I1 \ 

Josiah died in the year of the world 3556, B. C. 

570, on the 1 8th day of the ninth month, accord- 
ing to our era, the 26th of December. From that 
day until the captivity the Jews no longer had an 
independent king, but were subject and tributary 
to Egypt. 

Jehoiakim's first year was A. M. 3557. B. C. 569. 
He reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 2. Kings, 
xxiii. 36. In his eigth year he became tributary 
to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. The begin- 
ning of his reign was about the middle of the 
first month of the Jews, or, according to our era, 



40 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

in April; in the eleventh year of his reign he was 
led captive to Babylon, and with him Daniel and 
others. 

Nebuchadnezzar's first year was A. M. 3560, B. 
C. 566. His reign began in the fourth year of Je- 
hoiakim (Jer. xxv. 1), about the seventh month, 
or, our September, and continued forty three years. 
Jehoiakim had been king for three years and 
about five months, when Nebuchadnezzar became 
king. In the fifth year of his reign, and in the 
eighth year of Jehoiakim's reign, Nebuchadnezzar 
made him subject and tributary. Josephus Ant, 
Bk, 10. ch. 6. The bondage or tributary condi- 
tion of the Jews began three years before their cap- 
tivity, and so a distinction is to be made between 
the Babylonian captivity. The latter as a proof of 
the former, began at the close of the eleventh year 
of Jehoiakim, and in the eighth of Nebuchadnez- 
zar 1 Kings xxiv. 12. A. M. 3568. B. C. 558, on 
the tenth day of the fifth month, or according to 
our era, the 8th of August. The tributary state 
began three years earlier on the same day of the 
same month, — A. M. 3565, B. C. 561. 

Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, was by Nebuchad- 
nezzar appointed king in his father's place, because 
the latter had rebelled, and refused to pay tribute. 
He held the throne for three months and ten days, 
until the three years for which Jehoiakim had paid, 
had fully expired, 2 Kings xxiv. 1. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 
9. ' Josephus, Ant., Bk. 10. ch. 6. Nebuchadnez- 
zar took him prisoner on the tenth day of the fifth 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 4 I 

month, in the eighth year of his own reign at the 
expiration of Jehoiakim's eleventh year 2 Chron. 
xxxvi. 10, and on the same day he made Zedekiah 
king over Judah. From this day dates the captiv- 
ity of the Jews. 

Jedekiah ruled eleven years, and since he too 
rebelled against the king of Babylon, the latter 
came in his nineteenth year, and took him prisoner, 
and burned the temple and the city of Jerusalem. 
This happened A. M. 3579, B. C. 547. The city 
was besieged unto the eleventh year of Zedekiah, 
2 Kings xxv. 3; and on the ninth day of the fourth 
month, or Saturday the 7th of July, 547 B. C, the 
city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by 
night v. 3. 4. On the eleventh day of the fifth 
month, or Saturday the fifth of August, the king's 
captain of the guard came to Jerusalem ; and three 
days later, on the tenth day of the fifth month, or 
Tuesday the 8th of August B. C. 547, which was 
the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar Jer. lii, 12 
the temple and the city were burned, 2 Kings xxv. 
9. Thus ended the eleventh year of Jedekiah's 
reign, and with it the kingdom and nationality of 
the Jews, on that very day, the tenth of the fifth 
month, or Aug. 8th A. M. 3579, B. C. 547. 

Nebuchadnezzar continued for several years to 
make war upon the neighboring states, and sub- 
jected them to his power • after he had made peace, 
he built the city of Babylon, but died before he 
could complete his work. His son Evil-rnerodach, 



42 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

also called Nebuchadnezzar, became king in his 
place, and completed the building of the city. 
Nebuchadnezzar reigned a little over 43 years. 

Evil-merodach's first year was A. M. 3604, B. C. 
522. "In the seven and thirtieth year of the cap- 
tivity of Jehoiachim, king of Judah, in the twelfth 
month, on the seven and twentieth day of the 
month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the year 
that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoi- 
achim, king of Judah, out of the prison; and he 
spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the 
throne of the kings that were with him in Bibylon 
2 Kings xxv. 27-28, and Jer. lii. 31-32. The thirty- 
seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachim and the 
Jews was the first year of Evil-merodach. The 
twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month falls upon 
the tenth of March. On the tenth of the following 
fifth month 37 years expired, because the captivity 
had begun on that day, or August 8th A. M. 3568, 
B. C. 558; but up to the 10th of March in the 
37th year there were only 36 years and 7 months. 
Hence, the date of Evil-merodach's first year is 
correct as stated. 

This king was the son of Nebuchadnezzar. 
His first name was Belshazzar, Baruch i. 11. The 
name of Nebuchadnezzar was given to him, and 
he accepted it, after he had taken his father's king- 
dom. From that time also he is called Nebuchad- 
nezzar in the Bible. The name Evil-merodach 
which signifies a crushing of the fool, or "the fool 
grinds bitterly," was applied to him because, in 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 43 

•consequence of his excitable, violent temper, he 
often acted rashly and indiscreetly, and because he 
was believed to be possessed by an evil spirit. Ac- 
cording to Josephus Hist. Ant., bk. 10, ch. n, he 
reigned eighteen years. This Evil-merodach is 
that Nebuchadnezzar who, in the second year of 
his reign, had a dream, which Daniel explained to 
him, Dan. ii. 1-44. He set Daniel and his three 
friends over his kingdom and was insane for seven 
years, eating grass with the beasts of the field, Dan. 
iv. 25. His kingdom, however, was preserved unto 
him until the seven years had passed, verses 26-36. 
During his insanity, Neriglissar, his sister's hus- 
band, administered the government for four years, 
.and Neriglissar' s son, Labarosorach, for nine months. 
After this Belshazzar, his own son, took the king- 
dom, and ruled until his father was restored to his 
.reason and kingly honors. Upon his father's death, 
Belshazzar again ruled alone and became the last 
.king of the Babylonian empire. He was killed by 
night, when the army of the Persians penetrated 
.into the city, Dan. v. 30, and the seventy years of 
bondage had an end, A. M. 3635, B. C. 49 r. So 
also this scripture is fulfilled: "And these nations 
shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years ; and 
it shall come to pass, when seventy years are ac- 
complished, that I will punish the king of Baby- 
lon," Jer. xxv. 11, 12. "And all nations shall serve 
him (Nebuchadnezzar), and his son, and his son's 
:Son" Ch. xxvii. 7. 

Darius of Media took possession of the Baby- 



44 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Ionian empire through Cyrus, his general, and ruled 
two years at Babylon, A. M. 3636, B. C. 490. 

Cyrus took the kingdom after Darius, A. M. 3638, 
B. C. 488. Here ended the captivity of the Jews. 
The seventy years of captivity closed with the first 
year of Cyrus, who united the kingdom of the 
Medes and Persians with the Babylonians into one- 
empire. On the tenth day of the fifth month, or 
August 8th of this year Cyrus gave command that 
the temple and the city of Jerusalem should be re- 
built, and that the Jews should return into their 
own country Ezra i. 1. Thus saith the Lord: — 
"That after seventy years be accomplished at Baby- 
lon, I will visit you, and perform my good word 
toward you, in causing you to return to this place 
Jer. xxix. 10. "That saith of Cyrus: He is my 
shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure; even 
saying to Jerusalem : Thou shalt be built ; and to 
the temple: Thy foundation shall be laid" Isa. 
xliv. 28. No other man than Cyrus could give 
forth this command, for he was destined thereto 
by God, long before he was born, as these proph- 
ecies plainly show. From this date begin the 69 
weeks unto Messiah the Prince m Dan. ix. 25. 

Cyrus reigned seven years, from the year of the 
world 3638^3645, B. C. 488 to 481. His son 
Cambyses, called Artaxerxes in the Holy Scrip- 
tures, reigned with his father, and alone after his- 
death, seven years, A. M. 3641 to 3647, B. C. 485 
to 479. After Cambyses reigned Smerdes, surnamed 
the False, for seven months. This ruler cannot 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 45 

properly be reckoned among the Persian kings. He 
pretended to be a son of Cyrus, and with this pre- 
tense obtained possession of the kingdom under 
the following circumstances. After the death of 
Cyrus, his son Cambyses, or Artaxerxes, carried on 
war with Egypt, and Darius, son-in-law of Cyrus, 
was governor and chief commander of the Persian 
.army. Just at the time when King Cambyses and 
Darius were marching upon Egypt with a great 
force, the enemies of the Jews came to the king 
with complaints about the building of the temple. 
He forbade the Jews to build, until they should re- 
ceive further orders from him, not, however as be- 
ing hostile to them. Having conquered Egypt, he 
went through Judah on his return home, and gave 
the Jews permission to build again. But he died 
at Damascus, and could not reach his home. By 
this event Smerdes, the False, obtained and seized 
the opportunity to claim the kingdom for himself, 
under the pretense above stated. The enemies 
-of the Jews at once complained to him about build- 
ing the temple at Jerusalem, and he forthwith com- 
manded the Jews to cease, so that they could not 
make use of King Cambyses' permission. But 
Cambyses had conferred the government upon 
Darius, his brother-in-law, and when the latter came 
to Babylon with his army, Smerdes was killed, and 
Darius became king, A. M. 3648, B. C. 478. 

In his second year, on the twenty-fourth day of 
the sixth month, or on Sunday the 26th of Septem- 
ber, B. C. 477, the building of the temple was again 



46 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

begun Ezra v. 2; and in his sixth year, on the 
third day of the month Adar, or on Sunday the 15 th 
of February, B. C. 472, the temple was completed, 
Ezra vi. 15. Darius reigned from A. M. 3648 to 
3667, or B. C. 478 to 459 — 19 years as king, and' 
36 years as governor and king in succession. 

Xerxes, son of Darius, reigned from 458 to 438 
B. C, 21 years in all. His son Artaxerxes, called 
Ahasuerus in the Scriptures, was the husband of 
Esther, and reigned from A. M. 3647 to 3721, or 
446 to 405 B. C. — 41 years, including the time he 
ruled with his father. After his father's death he 
was sole regent for 32 years, which closed 406 B. C. 

The history of Nehemiah is of importance, and 
deserves our attention; therefore we will say a. 
word about it now. 

The first year of Nehemiah was the year in which 
the Jews returned from Babylon to Jerusalem, un- 
der command of Cyrus, to build the city and the 
temple Ezra ii. 1-2. He was an officer together 
with Zerubbabel, Jesua, and others ch. ii. 2, and so 
must have been upwards of twenty years of age; 
consequently when in the twentieth year of King 
Artaxerxes (or Ahasuerus) he came with permission 
to build the walls of the city, he must have been 
89 years old. According to the generally accepted 
chronology of Ptolemy, his age on the completion 
of the walls must have been 147 years, which is not 
credible. That this was Nehemiah, is proved by 
the Scriptures. In Ezra ii. 2 he is named together 
with others as an officer, and in verse 63 he is called 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 47 

"the Tirshatha." In Xehemiah vii. 65, 70 he is 
also called the Tirshatha, which means the govern- 
or; and in ch. viii. 9 and ch. x. 1 it is said that 
Nehemiah is the Tirshatha. In Neh. i. 1 he is 
called the son of Hackaliah, and according to ch. 
x. 1 Nehemiah is "the Tirshatha the son of Hach- 
aliah." Leaving the chronology we now proceed 
to the history of the book of Daniel. 

In Dan. i. 1, 2 it is said that in the third year of 
the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Ne- 
buchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, 
and beseiged it ; and the Lord gave Jehoiachim, 
king of Judah, into his hand." Nearly all inter- 
preters of the Bible begin the Babylonish captivity 
from the third year of Jehoiakim. The historian 
Ptolemy, whom all our chronologers follow, began 
this striking error, and hence it is, that our Bible- 
chronology is entangled with so many erroneous 
statements and altogether uncertain assertions, and 
that among the many there are no two that agree 
on every point. It strikes one to perceive that they 
seek to fix their periods even contrary to the testi- 
mony of the Holy Scriptures. The case before us 
is one of the many in which the connections of the 
Bible are not observed, and incorrect assertions are 
made contrary to its own references. Let us see 
now what the Scriptures say. 

" The word that came to Jeremiah, concerning 
all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Je- 
hoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, that was 
the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon," 






48 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Jer. xxv. 1. Here the first year of Nebuchadnez- 
zar is made contemporaneous with the fourth year 
of Jehoiakim. Hence Jehoiakim must have 
been king for three full years, before Nebuchadnez- 
zar became king. How then could the latter as a 
king take him prisoner in his third year, while he 
was not yet a king himself? 

" Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old, when 
he began to reign; and he reigned eleven years in 
Jerusalem 2 Kings xxiii. 36. How could he have 
reign edeleven years, if in his third year an end 
was put to his reign by his captivity ? And how 
could he burn the book which contained the proph- 
ecies of Jeremiah against him, in his fifth year, Jer. 
xxxvi. 9-23, if his reign had ceased already in his 
third ? After Jehoiakim had been made prisoner, 
Nebuchadnezzar made his son Jehoiachin king in 
his place; and after three months he came and 
made prisoners of Jehoiachin and all the princes 
and potenatates. This was in the eighth year of 
Nebuchadnezzar, 2 Kings xxiv. 12. The eighth 
year of Nebuchadnezzar was the eleventh year of 
Jehoiakim. Thus the scripture is fulfilled: "And 
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem." How then 
can we maintain, with the testimony of the Bible 
against us, that his reign did not continue for three 
entire years ? 

But how do the contradictions of the Bible agree 
in this respect ? Real inconsistencies are not to be 
found in the Holy Scriptures, though indeed seem- 
ing inconsistencies ; but the true state of things 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 49 

explains them all, so also in this case, as the fol- 
lowing will show. 

Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt, conquered Jcsi- 
ah, king of Judah, and laid a tribute upon the 
land ; and Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim, the son 
of Josiah, king in the room of his father, and turn- 
ed his name to Jehoiakim" 2 Kings xxiii, 33, 34. 
This happened in April, 569, B. C. Nebuchadnez- 
zar's first year began in September, 566 B. C. — 
Nebuchadnezzar conquered Nechoh, king of Egypt, 
in his first year, which was the four th year of Je- 
hoiakim, king of Judah Jer xlvi. 2, and took from 
him, " from the river of Egypt unto the river Eu- 
phrates, all that pertained to the king of Egypt" 
2 Kings xxiv. 7, Judea only excepted. In his 
fourth year Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, to 
obtain tribute from Jehoiakim;" and Jehoiakim 
became his servant three years; then he turned 
and rebelled agains him" 2 Kings xxiv. 1. Three 
months before the three years of Jehoiakim' s tri- 
butary state had expired. Nebuchadnezzar came, 
because he had rebelled, and took him prisoner, 
"and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Baby- 
lon" 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6. This beginning of his 
captivity was in the third year of his vassalage or 
tributary state; in this third year of his being tri- 
butary to Nebuchadnezzar he was carried to Baby- 
lon, but not in the third year of his reign, ere he 
became tributary, Dan. i. 2. It was in the eleventh 
year of Jehoiakim's reign. At this time Nebuc- 
hadnezzar took some prisoners, among whom was 



SO AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Daniel, with him to Babylon, also some vessels of 
the temple. Then he appointed Jehoiachin, son of 
Jehoiakim, king in the latter' s place, until the three 
years for which Jehoiakim had paid the tribute, 
were up. Jehoiachim reigned three months and 
ten days 2 Kings xxiv. 8 ; and 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9, 
thus completing the third and last year of Jehoia- 
kim's tributariness. "And when the year was ex- 
pired, king Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him 
(Jehoiachin) to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of 
the house of the Lord." 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10. — 
"And he carried out thence all the treasures of the 
house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's 
house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold 
which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the 
temple of the Lord; and carried away all Jeru- 
salem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men 
of v? lor, even ten thousand captives, and all the 
craftsmen and smiths, and the mighty of the land; 
those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to 
Babylon." 2 Kings xxiv. 13-17, When the king 
of Babylon took Jehoiakim prisoner in the third 
year of his vassalage, he took only some vessels of 
the temple and a few captives; but when the third 
year was up, he took everything out of the temple 
and the king's house, as well as all Jerusalem, to- 
gether with the king, his potentates and men of war. 
This in the Holy Scriptures is properly called the 
captivity of the Jews; it took place in the eighth 
year of Nebuchadnezzar v. 12, when Jehoiakim 
had reigned eleven years. The day of the captivi- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 5 I 

ty was the tenth day of the fifth month, Ab, ac- 
cording to our era, the 8th of August, 558 years 
before Christ. The beginning of the Jewish bond- 
age was on the same day of the same month, three 
years earlier. There is a distinction, according to 
time, between the Babylonian captivity and the 
Babylonian tributariness or bondage; the latter 
began when Jehoiakim and Judah became tribu- 
butary; the former, when Jehoiachin and Judah 
were carried prisoners to Babylon. 

The end of Jehoiakim was foretold by Jeremiah : 
"Thus saith the Lord of Jehoiakim: His dead 
body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and 
in the night to the frost." Jer. xxxvi. 30. Fur- 
ther: " He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, 
drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jeru- 
salem." Jer. xxii. 19. 

From this may be seen what death he died. In 
all probability, Nebuchadnezzar, after he had car- 
ried him in chains to Babylon, preserved him alive 
until the three years, for which he had paid tribute, 
had expired ; after that date the contract concern- 
ing the tribute was dissolved, and Nebuchadnezzar 
probably had him killed and his body thrown out 
unburied, after which he took his son Jehoiachim, 
with the whole city of Jerusalem, prisoner. We 
have nothing positive about his death; but this 
view is very plausible. 

The following is what Josephus tells us of this 
story. "Now in the fourth year of the reign of Je- 
hoiakim, one whose name was Nebuchadnezzar 



52 4 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

took the government over the Babylonians, who at 
the same time went up with a great army to the 
Carchemish, which was at Euphrates, upon a reso- 
lution he had taken to fight with Neco, king of 
Egypt, under whom all Syria then was. And when 
Neco understood the intention of the king of Baby- 
lon, and that this expedition was made against him, 
he did not despise his attempt, but made haste with 
a great band of men to Euphrates, to defend him- 
self from Nebuchadnezzar; and when they had 
joined battle, he was beaten, and lost many ten 
thousands [of his soldiers] in the battle. So the 
king of Babylon passed over Euphrates, and took 
all Syria, as far as Pelusium, excepting Judea. — 
But when Nebuchadnezzar had already reigned four 
years, which was the eighth of Jehoiakim's govern- 
ment over the Hebrews, the king of Babylon made 
an expedition with mighty forces against the Jews, 
and required tribute of Jehoiakim, and threatened 
on his refusal to make war against him. He was 
affrighted at this threatening, and bought his peace 
with money, and brought the tribute he was order- 
ed to bring for three years. But on the third year, 
upon hearing that the king of the Babylonians 
made an expedition against the Egyptians, he did 
not pay his tribute, yet was he disappointed in his 
hope, for the Egyptians durst not fight at this time." 

" Now, a little time aftewards, the 

king of Babylon made an expedition against Je- 
hoiakim, whom he received into the city, and this 
out of fear of the foregoing predictions of this proph- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 53 

et, as supposing that he should suffer nothing that 
was terrible, because he neither shut the gates, nor 
fought against him." Ant., Bk. 10, ch. 6. 

From this may be seen that Josephus agrees with 
the Bible in regard to the eleven years of Jehoia- 
kim's reign, and his imprisonment in the third year 
of his tributary condition. 

"In the second year of the reign of Nebuchad- 
nezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, where- 
with his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake 
from him." Here we find new difficulties with re- 
spect to the chronology. The generally accepted 
idea, that this second year of Nebuchadnezzar 
must have been his fourth, properly speaking, be- 
cause he had ruled two years with his father, and 
alone during the next two; so that this second 
year was the second of his reigning alone, and the 
three years of Daniel's school-time had expired, 
after which he was allowed to come before the 
king. 

This is a way of getting out of difficulties; but 
if we entangle ourselves in greater ones than those 
we wish to remove, the evil is made worse, and 
there will never be satisfaction. It is just so in this 
case. It has often been asserted that Nebuchad- 
nezzar was fellow-regent with his father, but it has 
never been proved, and mere assertions are not 
proofs. The real state of things was this : Nebu- 
chadnezzar was commander-in-chief of the army 
under his father, Nabopolassar. With his father's 
forces and under his father's command he marched 



54 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

against the governor whom his father had set over 
Egypt, Syria, and Phenicia, and who had become 
disloyal. Nebuchadnezzar marched forth and con- 
quered these lands as general, not as king. At this 
time his father died at Babylon, and as soon as he 
received the tidings, he went home and took charge 
of his father's kingdom. This was the first year of 
his reign. See Josephus' His. Ant, Bk. 10, ch. n. 

But what is gained by saying that the second year 
of Nebuchadnezzar's reign was his fourth ? Though 
the assertion be made a thousand times, the state- 
ment of the Bible still remains, that it was the 
second — no matter when it began, whether under 
or with his father, or at any other time. It is all 
the same : king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in 
the second year of his reign, and not in the fourth. 

This Nebuchadnezzar, who had this dream in 
the second year of his reign, can not have been 
that Nebuchadnezzar who, in the eighth year of his 
reign, took the Jews, among whom was Daniel also, 
as prisoners to Babylon 2 Kings xxiv. 12. How 
could Daniel explain the king's dream in the lat- 
ter's second year, if he did not become his prisoner 
until his eighth ? He was not permitted to come 
before the king till after three years of scholastic 
instruction, which would be in the eleveiith year of 
the latter' s reign ; consequently this Nebuchadnez- 
zar can not have been the first. He must have 
been his son, who was called Belshazzar, as may be 
seen in the book of Baruch, ch i. 11. In the 
Holy Scriptures he is also called Evil-merodach, 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 55 

Jer. lii. 31^2 Kings xxv. 27. After his father 
died, he took the kingdom, and from that time was 
called Nebuchadnezzar. Prideaux says: "Nebu- 
chadnezzar was the name commonly applied to the 
kings of Babylon, as Pharaoh was to the kings of 
Egypt." Evil-merodach's first name was Belshaz- 
zar, and on ascending the throne he took the name 
of his father, Nebuchadnezzar. His son named 
Belshazzar, reigned after him, and was the last king 
of the Babylonian empire. 

The traits of character of these two kings were 
also very different. The first was a man of sound 
understanding and firm resolution. Al! his plans 
were made with the greatest caution and carried 
out with a fixed determination; while the latter 
acted indiscreetly and cruelly, like a man infuriate. 
His commands were more the products of a luna- 
tic, than of a sensible man. When his dream had 
slipped from his memory, he commanded his wise 
men to tell both the dream and its interpretation, 
threatening that, in case they would not do so, they 
should die the death. When he set up his im- 
age, he gave orders that whoever would not wor- 
ship it, should be cast into the fiery furnace. When 
Daniel told and interpreted his dream, he wanted 
to make a god out of him, and commanded that 
they should offer an oblation and sweet odors unto 
him. The first Nebuchadnezzar did not act thus. 
It also appears that Daniel knew nothing of the 
conference of the wise men with the king in regard 
to his dream, for he was not present, and did not 



56 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

find it out, until he and his companions were sought 
to be killed, Dan. li. 13, 14. Probably this second 
Nebuchadnezzar had chosen another minister; for 
if he had been the first, he would at once have gone 
to consult Daniel and his three companions, be- 
cause "in all matters of wisdom and understand- 
ing, that he enquired of them, he found them ten 
times better than all the magicians and astrologers 
that were in his realm." Dan. i. 20. From the 
chronalogical periods, as well as from these circum- 
stances, it may be seen that Evil-merodach, the 
second Nebuchadnezzar, had this dream in the 
second year of his reign. 

The first chapter of Daniel is in itself a detach- 
ed piece of history, and comprises the period of 
time which Daniel lived at Babylon under the first 
Nebuchadnezzar, about 35 years. The author of 
the first chapter closed with the words : " And 
Daniel continued even unto the first year of king 
Cyrus" v. 21. In ch, x. 1 this year is called the 
third of King Cyrus. 

After this time Evil-merodach took possession of 
the kingdom, and in the second year of his reign 
had a dream j and although it made an extraordin- 
ary impression upon him, it fell from his memory so 
entirely, that he only remembered that it had been 
an unusual dream. He now commanded his wise 
men to tell him the dream and its interpretation ; 
if they would not, they should die the death. — 
They endeavored to convince him that his demands 
were unreasonable; but he insisted on his claims. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 57 

When the matter came before Daniel and his three 
friends, they took counsel to pray to God for this 
mystery, and God revealed it to Daniel. Thus en- 
dowed, Daniel came before the king the next day. 
The latter said to him: "Art thou able to make 
known unto me the dream which I have seen, and 
the interpretation thereof ?" Daniel answered : — 
"The secret which the king hath demanded can 
not the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, 
the soothsayers, show unto the king; but there is 
a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh 
known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be 
in the latter days." 

1 



SECTION II. 



Nebuchadnezzar's Dream and its Interpreta- 
tion by the Prophet Daniel. 

Thou, O king, sawest, and beheld, a great im- 
age. This great image, whose brightness was ex- 
cellent, stood before thee ; and the form thereof 
was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, 
his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his 
thighs of brass. His legs of iron, his feet part of 
iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone 
was cut out without hands, which smote the image 
upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake 
them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the 
brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces 
together, and became like the chaff of the summer 
4 



58 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

threshing floors ; and the wind carried them away, 
that no place was found for them : and the stone 
that smote the image became a great mountain, 
and filled the whole earth. This is the dream: and 
we will tell the interpretation thereof before the 
king. 

Thou, O king, art a king of kings ; for the God 
of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and 
strength, and glory. And wheresoever the chil- 
dren of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the 
fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, 
and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art 
this head of gold. And after thee shall arise an- 
other kingdom inferior to thee, and another third 
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the 
earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as 
iron : forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and 
subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all 
these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And 
whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of pot- 
ters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be 
divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of 
the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed 
with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were 
part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall 
be partly strong, and partly broken. And where- 
as thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall 
mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they 
shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not 
mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings 
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 59 

•shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall 
not be left to other people, but it shall break in 
pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall 
stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the 
stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the 
clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath 
made known to the king what shall come to pass 
hereafter : and the dream is certain, and the inter- 
pretation thereof sure." Dan. ii. 31-45. 

The form of this image was that of a large man. 
Its head was of fine gold, its breast and arms of 
silver, its thighs of brass, its legs of iron, and its 
feet and toes part of iron and part of clay. 

Under this image are represented four great gen- 
ial empires of the earth. It indicates the four 
great monarchies of the world as, beginning with 
the Babylonian, they succeeded one another until 
the overthrow and destruction of the last ; for the 
world shall not have more than four such general 
sovereignties, including the Babylonian, until the 
Lord of lords will set up one universal empire for 
all the world. 

1. The head of gold. "Thou, O king," 
the prophet said to Nebuchadnezzar, "art a king 
•of kings ; for the God of heaven hath given thee a 
kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And 
wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts 
of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath He 
given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler 
over them all. Thou art this head of gold." By 



60 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

the saying "Thou art this head of gold," is not 
meant that the king in his own person is that head r 
but his kingdom is thereby understood; for several 
years after his death the lattei continued to be, as 
before, "the head of gold." 

The Chaldean or Babylonian kingdom began 
under Nlmrod, Gen. x. 8-10, and having continued 
for many years, it ended about 490 years before 
Christ. Nebuchadnezzar, who conquered Nine- 
veh, the capital of the Assyrian kingdom, thereby 
elevated his own to become an empire of the world. 
Afterwards the Jews, Egyptians, Edomites, Moabi- 
tes, Ammonites, Tyrians and Sidonians came un- 
der his dominion. Jer. xxvii. 3-7 : "And now 
have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant; 

and all nations shall serve him, and his son, and 
his son's son, until the very time of his land come.'' 
This is the head of gold. 

But, according to the prophet's interpretation,, 
this vast empire was to make room for another. — 
The Lord indicated the people by which it was to 
be conquered, through Isaiah, by saying: "I will 
stir up the Medes against them," Isa. xiii. 1 7 ; and 
further Isai. xxi. 2 : "Go up, O Elam ; besiege, O 
Media." Elam was the first son of Shem, Gen. x. 
22, from whom the Elamites or Persians take their 
origin. Madai was a son of Japheth, after whom 
the region of Media, in Asia, was named. Accord- 
ingly the Persians and Medes were long before de- 
signated by the prophet as the people by which 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 6 1 

Babylon should should be overthrown. " The Lord 
hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; 
for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it." — 
Jer. li. ii. Even the leader of the Persian and 
Median forces, Cyrus was called by name, more 
than a hundred years before his birth. Isa. xliv. 
28, andxlv. i. 

This Cyrus besieged the city of Babylon for 
three years, without accomplishing anything against 
it. Finally, without knowing that he was called 
thereto by the Lord, he turned the river Euphrates, 
which flowed through the city, into another direc- 
tion ; thus the bed of the stream became dry, and 
where the water had flowed into the city under- 
neath the walls, his soldiers marched in with dry 
feet, and took possession thereof. This was done 
by the Lord of Sabbaoth ; for " thus saith the Lord ;" 
. ..." I am the Lord that maketh all things, that 
stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth 
abroad the earth by myself; that saith to the deep, 
Be dry; and I will dry up thy rivers: that saith of 
Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all 
my pleasure." Isai. xliv, 24-28. 

About 490 years before Christ, Darius of Media 
took possession of the Babylonian kingdom through 
Cyrus his general, and "the glory of the kingdoms, 
the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency ".... the 
head of gold of the image before us, — was brought 
to an end. 

2. The breast and arms of silver. 
These are the Medo-Persian empire. Cyrus the 



62 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

conqueror of the Babylonian empire, about 48S 
years before Christ united the kingdom of the Per- 
sians, Medes, and Chaldeans into one whole. — 
These three kingdoms in one are pictured in the 
image of this dream by "his breast and arms of 
silver." It was a world-monarchy, and lasted about 
two hundred years. 

3. The belly and the thighs of 
brass. These are "the third kingdom of brass., 
which shall bear rule over all the earth." v. 39. — 
It is the Graeco-Macedonian empire under Alex- 
ander the Great, who, about the year 330 B. C. 
conquered the Medo-Persian kingdom, " the breast 
and arms of silver," and in a very short time be- 
came the ruler of the then known world. Of this 
kingdom it was truly said: "It shall bear rule over 
all the earth." 

4. His legs were of iron, his feet 
part of iron and part of clay. This 
fourth empire of iron undoubtedly is the Roman. 
Rome strove for the sole sovereignty many years, 
and partly succeeded. With iron strength she sub- 
jugated almost every nation. For nearly 500 years 
Rome was a free city, and for a little more than 
500 years it was ruled by emperors or monarchs. — 
The first monarch of this great Roman empire was 
Octavian, about thirty years before Christ. A. D. 
395 the empire was divided by the emperor Theo- 
dosius the Great into two parts : the Western and 
the Eastern. These are the two iron thighs of the 
image. The two empires thus formed were gov- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 63 

erned by separate emperors. Rome was the capi- 
tal of the West, and Constantinople that of the 
East. After the reign of the last emperor in the 
year 476, the different provinces or states of this 
vast empire became ten independent kingdoms, 
which, though their names and boundaries have 
been different, and they have undergone many other 
alterations, are at present about as follows: The 
Papal states, Sicily, Sardinia, Portugal, Spain, 
France, England, Germany, Prussia and Austria. 
These are the toes of the feet: "part of iron, and 
part of clay," — "partly strong, and partly broken." 

History furnishes a kingdom exactly like that de- 
manded by the image, in the Roman empire. It 
was a strong iron empire, which subjugated all na- 
tions, and governed them with a sceptre of iron; it 
was first divided into two parts, and again dissolved 
into ten kingdoms ; it was the fourth and last gen- 
eral sovereignty of the world, and will remain until 
the God of heaven will set up one universal empire 
through the "saints of the Most High." 

Many attempts have been made to transform 
these ten kingdoms into greater ones, or into one 
general empire; the example of Napoleon strikes 
us above all others; but every effort to reach this 
object has failed. Ten kingdoms are to remain 
until all the monarchies belonging to this image 
have been destroyed, and the Most High will set 
up one universal empire for and through His people 
on earth." 

What is represented by the image of this dream, 



64 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

is again shown in Dan. vii. 4-7, under a vision of four 
beasts. There the four world-monarchies may again 
be found, only they appear under different forms. 

The lio?i with eagle's wings represents the Baby- 
lonian kingdom. Eagle's wings show its power of 
soaring up and spreading out. These were pluck- 
ed out, and the beast itself lifted up from the earth; 
all of which was done by Cyrus, 490 B. C. 

The second beast, like unto a bear, with three 
t ibs between its teeth, which devoured much flesh, 
represents the Medo-Persian empire. Three long 
teeth or ribs indicate the three kingdoms out of 
which this empire was formed: the Babylonian, 
Median and Persian. 

The third beast, like a leopard, with four wings 
and four heads, represents the Graeco- Macedonian 
empire of Alexander the Great. Four wings and 
four heads signify the divisions of his empire after 
his death, among his four principal generals. 

The fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, with 
iron teeth and ten horns, is the Latin-Roman em- 
pire. Ten horns are ten kingdoms, which sprung 
from its ruins. 

Thus we have, with all possible brevity, consider- 
ed the wonderful dream and its interpretation, and 
in addition confirmed the correctness of the latter 
by the vision of the beasts. Many things still 
stand unfulfilled, and so the how and the when 
may still remain veiled in the darkness of the 
future; but in progress of time they also will be 
unfolded in full clearness unto all. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 65 

SECTION III. 



Of the Stone which, being cut from the Moun- 
tain without Hands, smote the Image upon 
its Feet, and brake it to Pieces. 
It is true that Christ is the rock of our safety and 
the precious corner-stone of our salvation; and He 
certainly has come down to this earth from the 
Divine First Mount and Primeval Rock " without 
hands," that is, without the will or work of man. — 
But He also is "a stone of stumbling and a rock 
of offence, ,, i Peter ii. 8, as well as a stone of grind- 
ing for "on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind 
him to powder." Matt. xxi. 44. His grinding 
power is displayed in His civil government, in taking 
an account of all powers hostile to God, in banish- 
ing them from the earth, and in ruling this world 
by a form of civil government administered in ac- 
cordance with His law. 

This stone, therefore, does not represent Christ 
personally, but the fifth empire of the world, which 
is set up by Him, and in its nature and character 
is quite different from the four preceding ones. — 
After the prophet had shown the king the inter- 
pretation of the image, which we have just now 
discussed, he proceeded to tell him also the signifi- 
cation of this stone that was cut down. As the 
prophet has mentioned several characteristics by 
which this kingdom of stone may be known, we 
will give special attention to each, in order to see 
whether a kingdom may be found, that corresponds 



66 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

thereto. His interpretation is comprised in the 
following words : 

"And in the days of these kings shall the God of 
heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be de- 
stroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be left to other 
people; but it shall break in pieces and consume 
all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. — 
" Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut 
out of the mountain without hands, and that it 
brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the 
silver, and the gold; the great God hath made 
known to the king what shall come to pass here- 
after: and the dream is certain, and the interpreta- 
tion thereof sure." 

In this explanation of the prophet are shown : — 
i. the nature; 2. the time ; 3. the manner of com- 
ing into existence; 4. the grinding power, and 5. 
the long centinua?ice of this empire of stone. 

This kingdom of stone, the fifth general empire 
of our earth, can not be a spiritual kingdom, as 
many suppose, but must needs be a civil empire. — 
Gold, silver, brass and iron are types of civil em- 
pires; and this stone which breaks them in pieces, 
and then takes their place, must likewise be a civil 
empire ; otherwise how could it occupy their place ? 
At the same time, however, it must possess the na- 
ture and character of Divine rule, for it is said that 
"the God of heaven" will set it up; how could 
God set up a kingdom without at the same time 
imparting thereto the true nature and character of 
government? It therefore is in its nature a civil 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 6 J 

empire, and also one that bears the true nature and 
character of government in itself. 

The Period Of time in which this em- 
pire will be established, is indicated by the words 
"in the days of these kings" — at the time of these 
kingdoms. Not before nor after, but just at the 
time when the Roman empire shall be dissoved into 
ten kingdoms, and these kingdoms still continue, 
this fifth empire shall and must be set up. More- 
over these ten kingdoms, pictured by the toes on 
the feet 'of the image, must remain in existence 
after the establishment of this empire of stone, until 
the latter shall break them in pieces. This, then, 
and no other, is the time in which the great God 
of heaven sets up this kingdom; and so the spirit- 
ual kingdom of the Lord Jesus cannot here be 
meant. 

The manner in which this empire is estab- 
lished, is shown by remarking that the stone was 
"cut down without hands." This cutting down or 
removing from one place to another was done 
"without hands," that is, without the wisdom, art, 
or labor of man. Where human action remains in 
the background, and the divine action, the hand of 
the Lord, forms the chief impulse toward great 
events, we may justly say that often great things 
are accomplished without hands. 

In the words: "It shall break in pieces and con- 
sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever," 
are asserted its conquering power and long endur- 
ance. Once — and before the earth shall be burned 



68 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

with fire, and the elements melt with fervent heat 
— it must be decided whether Satan shall rule this 
earth by means of sovereignties hostile to God, or 
Christ shall reign thereon by means of righteous 
government. This is the point in dispute between 
the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. 
Adam was the ruler of the earth ; Satan deceived 
him in enticing him to sin against God , thereby 
Adam lost not only the proper competency to rule, 
but also his authoritative power. Satan then took 
the government for himself; and inasmuch as he 
can rule mankind in civil matters only by means of 
evil men and bad civil laws, he made use of such ; 
thus he became the ruler of the earth, and there- 
fore is called in the Scriptures "the god of this 
world." But shall it be thus forever? No, it can- 
not continue thus unto the end of the world ; for 
the promised seed will also crush the serpent's head 
in this respect, and the church of Christ will cele- 
brate a glorious victory over all powers that have 
enslaved the consciences and suppressed the liber- 
ties of mankind. Kings and kingdoms must fall, 
and Christ only, the King of kings will rule this 
earth as king and High Priest, that is, in matters, 
civil and ecclesisastical, unto the end of the world. 
All that is necessary for us to do, is to look about 
for a government which, in its origin and adminis- 
tration, corresponds at least to the first characteris- 
tics of the beginning. If we find such a one, we 
may hope that the beginning of this empire has al- 
ready been made, and that, in the progress of its 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 69 

development, all other characteristics will come 
forth to light. Now, if among the many govern- 
ments of the world one is to be found, in whose 
origin and growth these beginning characteristics 
may be perceived, we must not seek it in the Old, 
but in the New World. Do we not, in accordance 
with those signs, find the beginning of this great 
universal empire in our American Republic? Does 
not the history of the origin and growth, as 
well as the administration of our government, fur- 
nish the requisite signs? How few of the inter- 
preters of the prophetic writings see this great 
God-built edifice ! Nearly all of them pass by this 
wondrous structure, to lose themselves in a spiritu- 
al kingdom, by which at the end of the world, and 
not before, an end will be put to all governments 
hostile to God, and which is to be represented by this 
stone. What an error this ! Shall this world forever 
be under the sway of sovereignties hostile to God? 
Is violation of conscience never to cease ? The Holy 
Scripture can not deceive us, and in them the victory 
over all hostile powers is promised to the king- 
dom of God. How r could such a victory take place, 
without securing liberty of conscience? It would 
be impossible. Morever, does not a government 
exist even now, which guarantees liberty of con- 
science to all? If so, why will we not see such a 
wonderful work ? And wherefore not perceive such 
a divine structure in the writings of the prophets ? 

Whether this image finds its explanation in our 
Republic, will now be considered more fully. 



70 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

i, As empires of a civil nature are represented 
by gold, silver, brass, iron and clay, so the original 
and civil nature of this empire is represented by 
stone. "Those metals are transformed by human 
intelligence, art and labor into the condition in 
which they serve as an image; and they represent 
governments that through human intelligence, art 
and labor became what they were — governments 
hostile to God, and whose aim in ruling was the 
display of human vices : pride, magnificence, splen- 
dor, glory, avarice, tyrany, instead of promoting the 
general welfare of mankind and the rights of the 
pious." A stone is what it is by nature, and hu- 
man labor has nothing to do with its natural exis- 
tence. Thereby is represented an original or di- 
vine rule. Just such a government is formed by 
this American Republic. Our laws are equally 
binding upon all. We have no arbitrary rulers, 
who can dispose at will of the life and liberty of 
their subjects; for the laws are just as binding up- 
on our highest officers as upon the humblest citi- 
zen. This then is in full accordance with nature. 
Every citizen has the right to say how and by 
whom the country shall be governed; for the peo- 
ple choose their officers and rule through them ; 
through them also they make their laws. The of- 
ficers are dependent on the people, and the peo- 
ple in turn dependent on them, so that all have 
equal rights ; this also is in accordance with the 
nature of things. 

Since our government recognizes the God of 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 7 l 

heaven as the supreme Lawgiver and Ruler, as 
well as the only infallible Judge of mankind, it 
grants liberty of conscience to all, permits all to 
serve Him as their conscience directs them. There 
can scarcely be anything more conformable to the 
divine rule ; for the Lord alone is He who knows 
all the thoughts of men, and therefore He must be 
the infallible Judge. To secure to every one the 
liberty of serving his God according to the convic- 
tions of his own conscience, must be agreeable to 
the nature of true government. Such a liberty is 
not allowed by any other government of the whole 
present world. 

True, the Supreme Being is not directly recog- 
nized as the Supreme Ruler of the world, in the 
constitution of the United States; but in the dec- 
laration of Independence, in the Articles of Con- 
federation, which are older than the Constitution, 
and in the statutes of the several states, this has 
been done. 

2. We now come to consider the origin of this 
empire, "cut out of the mountain without hands." 

The mountain from which this stone was cut, is 
the Divine First Moimt and Prime Source of all 
administration in heaven and earth. A model of 
this divinely ordained government was already 
given by its First Author, even God, through 
Moses, and appeared in a republican form. The 
kingly priesthood of the Lord Jesus, administrated 
typically through Moses and Aaron, was even then 
the principal thing; and even that typical admin- 



72 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

istration served the general welfare of the people. 
Such is our government in form and purpose. 
There is nothing tyranical in the arrangement of 
our laws, and the spirit of gentleness and of benev- 
olence toward all is manifested everywhere. The 
Lord ruled Israel through Moses and Aaron in 
civil and ecclesiastical matters, and gave them 
civil and ecclesiastical laws. 

The empire of stone cut out of the original 
mountain must likewise be such a one ; it must 
correspond to this type, both in form and spirit. 
Christ must reign in matters civil and ecclesiastical, 
by his invincible law of love to God and love to 
the neighbor; and that government alone which 
possesses the spirit of love and promotes the wel- 
fare of men, can be of divine origin. Just such a 
government is that of the American Republic. 

44 Without hands." We have already 
seen what is meant by working without hands. 
The cutting out indicates a separation, and at the 
same time a coming down. This separation and 
coming down to us was effected without hands; 
that is, this kingdom was born in heaven and came 
down to us by divine revelation, without the inter- 
ference of human action. True, God works me- 
diately and immediately, and in establishing our 
Republic He employed men ; but in the founda- 
tion of His plan and the revelation thereof He 
employs no means. That was done without hands. 

History must prove whether or not the prophetic 
explanation of this image is applicable to our Re- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 73 

public, before we can assent to this view. Let us 
hear what she has to say. 

Compelled by violence done to their conscience, 
the pious Pilgrims left England, their homes; and 
in order to enjoy liberty of conscience, they sought 
a new home in America. In the year 1620, they 
reached the American shore. The spirit of God had 
long opened their minds to the reasonableness and 
the need of serving the God of heaven according 
to dictates of conscience \ and in conformity with 
this divine principle they, under a republican con- 
stitution, drew up laws securing liberty of conscience 
in acts of religion unto all. This was the forerun- 
ner of a still greater and higher liberty in America. 

At the close of the seven years' war, in 1763, the 
people of the colonies were faithfully devoted to 
England, the mother country. But oppressive 
measures, such as the noted "Stamp Act," the 
"Act of Declaration," which secured to the king 
the right of issuing laws binding the colonists "in 
all cases whatsoever," and others which were based 
upon the "right of taxation," produced serious dis- 
content among the Americans. They called as- 
semblies of the people, drew up resolutions and 
petitions, in which those laws were declared unrea- 
sonable and tyrannical, and sent them to the king 
and Parliament of England. But in doing so, they 
had no thought of being delivered from kingly rule ; 
they simply wished to be disburdened from those 
unreasonable laws. 



74 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Notwithstanding the discontent of the American 
people, England would not yield; and so it came 
to pass that the people displayed their displeasure 
still more by acts of violence. The principle of 
taxation was most vehemently disputed ; and cargoes 
of tea, sent from London to Boston, New York, 
Philadelphia, and Charleston, S. C, were sent back 
from New York and Philadelphia, and at Boston 
thrown into the water. Still, however, the colonists 
did not entertain the thought of breaking away 
from the rule of the mother country, and founding 
a government of their own. 

In consequence of such acts the home govern- 
ment became still more rigorous. It was demand- 
ed that the people should pay damages for the tea 
which had been destroyed, and the taking in and 
unloading of all wares in the port of Boston was 
forbidden, until the colonists should be brought to 
obedience, Instead of being discouraged and dis- 
united hereby, they became still more united and 
more audacious. They called a general Congress, 
in which twelve colonies were represented by dele- 
gates, to meet on the 5th of September, 1774, at 
Philadelphia. Even now the people had no thought 
of making themselves independent of England; 
they only opposed unjust laws. This Congress drew 
up a declaration of human rights, voted an address 
to the king, a memorial to the British people, and 
made an appeal to the inhabitants of the British 
garrison in America. Though the royal troops and 
the colonists now got into a bloody conflict, the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 75 

struggle on the part of the latter was carried on 
only against the compulsory measures of the crown, 
and not for the sake of independence. To have a 
•government of their own was not yet the intention 
of the people. The desire thereof was to be born 
in their hearts without hands. 

After several conflicts between the British troops 
and the colonists, caused chiefly by the siege of 
Boston, a second Continental Congress assembled 
sX Philadelphia, on the ioth of May, 1775. This 
body ordered the levying and equipment of 20,000 
men for general defence. But, though several in- 
fluential men, particularly in New England, had 
£rom the beginning directed their purpose to the 
entire dissolution of the union with Great Britain, 
the great mass of the people seems to have had no 
wish, not even a thought of a complete separation 
from the mother-country, until the year 1775, In 
the course of this year some partial movements in 
favor of such a measure were begun. Toward the 
close of the year, smaller societies began openly to de- 
clare themselves in favor of independence, but the 
popular sentiment was still strongly opposed thereto. 

Not until the spring of 1776, when the news came 
from England, that the petitions of Congress had 
been rejected, that the Americans had been de- 
clared rebels, and that military bands were coming 
to force them to submission — not until then the 
-firm and general resolution was made, to make 
themselves independent of England, and to main- 
tain their independence. 



76 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Congress at once suspended all jurisdiction of the 
king in the colonies, while governments proceeding 
directly from the people took the places of the 
royal officers. The Declaration of Independence 
was made, and on the 4th of July the votes of alt 
the colonies were given in its favor. In this docu- 
ment Congress solemnly declared "that these Uni- 
ted Colonies are, and of a right ought to be, free and 
independent states." 

Thus, on the 4th of July, 1776, a free people 
was born without willing it beforehand. They were 
forced, as it were, to become free and independent,, 
compelled to establish, by a constitution, a form of 
government suitable to their now free condition. — 
"This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous be- 
fore our eyes." Who fails to see that the expres- 
sion "without hands" finds its explanation here? 
The word of the Lord is right; and all his works 
are done in truth. Ps. xxxiii. 4. 

3. In regard to the time in which this 
empire should be established, history furnishes ex- 
cellent help. In the words : u in the days of these 
kings" the period, at which this empire should begin, 
is stated. Christ's spiritual kingdom did certainly 
not begin at this time, and so that can not be the one 
in question. Nearly 400 years after Christ the 
Roman empire was divided into two parts, and 
many years afterwards it was dissolved into ten in- 
dependent kingdoms ; and at the time of these king- 
doms the empire of stone must be established. — 
The year 1776, the birth-year of our Republic, cor- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 



// 



responds well in this respect ; for then those king- 
doms were in peaceful order, which was afterwards 
disturbed by Napoleon's alterations. After the time 
of his sovereignty these kingdoms soon returned to 
their old condition ; for they, as the toes on the feet 
of the image, must remain, until the stone will smite 
them and break in pieces the whole image. 

4. Its conquering* power is revealed 
in overthrowing the image by smiting upon its feet, 
in breaking to pieces the gold, the silver, the brass, 
and the iron, so that they become dust and are 
carried away by the wind, and nothing is left of 
them. This has not yet been done, but it certainly 
will be done; for it must conquer all powers hostile 
to God, and the time of beginning this conquest is 
already at hand. The struggle with the slave-hold- 
ing power of our country, whose aim had been the 
overthrow of our government, was lost for slavery, 
and brought a glorious triumph to liberty. 

True, the slave-holding power was not a sover- 
eignty in and for itself; but in this very thing is to 
be found the evil and the blame of our civil admin- 
istration, that, contrary to our free institutions and 
the confession that all men are created equal and 
have equal rights to liberty, we, in some states, 
■could legally tolerate and cherish slavery, that mali- 
cious power of the Devil, for so long a time. — 
Thence it happened that we were involved in a civil 
war, which decided whether liberty or slavery should 
stand or fall. This stone, in crushing the sover- 
eignties of evil, thus began quite naturally with 



78 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

the overthrow of the satanic rule of the slave-hold- 
ers. The people among whom the true form of 
government is established, shall and must first be- 
delivered from every despotism of evil, ere the out- 
ward conflict can begin. This struggle was a hard' 
one, because this lust of dominion and the power 
obtained thereby are of the most malicious kind. 

This malignant power being conquered, we may 
reasonably hope that, through the active force of 
this stone empire, the powers of the world, and all- 
sovereignties will be overthrown. With anxious- 
expectation the world longs for liberty of con- 
science; for this very reason the influence of our 
government, after it has been purified and re- 
fined, will produce wonderful effects in the world,, 
and this longing lead to actions that will achieve 
liberty to all nations of the world. 

No general extension of the gosepel can be 
thought of, so long as governments remain that 
oppose man's liberty of conscience. These powers 
must first be cleared away, in order that the nations* 
and tribes of the earth may be made accessible to* 
the gospel that is to make them free. Some pas- 
sages of scripture in proof of this truth may here 
suffice. 

Those four universal empires of the world indi- 
cated by this image, were represented to the proph- 
et Daniel himself, in a dream, under a vision of four 
beasts, (ch. vii.) Having described the fourth and 
last, he said: "I beheld till the thrones were cast 
down, ^nd the Ancient of Days did sit, whose gar- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 79 

ment was white as snow, and the hair of His head 
like the pure wool: His throne was like the fiery 
flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream 
issued and came forth from before him : thousand 
thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand 
times tea thousand stood before him : the judgment 
was set, and the books were opened. I beheld 
then, because of the voice of the great words 
which the horn spake : I beheld even till the beast 
was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the 
burning flame. As concerning the rest of the 
beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet 
their lives were prolonged for a season and time." 

This sitting in judgment does not refer to the 
great judgment of the last day — better called the 
closing act of the world's judgment, in which all 
actions of all mankind will receive their final, irre- 
vocable sentence — but to that judgment which the 
Lord, acting for His people, "the saints of the Most 
High," will pass upon the powers of the world that 
for many years have persecuted, oppressed, and 
slain them. "I beheld, and the same horn (the 
Papacy) made war with the saints, and prevailed 
against them, until the Ancient of Days came, and 
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; 
and the time came that the saints possessed the 
kingdom." v. 2r, 22. The little horn, or the Pa- 
pacy, is to conquer and prevail against " the saints 
of the Most High," that is, against God's people, 
until the Ancient of Days will pronounce judgment 
for His people upon this power that persecutes 



So AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Christ These plain passages can not well be 
comprehended otherwise. 

In verse 25, the period of time is fixed during 
which God's people may be persecuted, destroyed, 
and oppressed. " And they (God's people) shall be 
given into his hand until a time and times and the 
dividing of time; but (then) the judgment shall sit." 
A time and times and the dividing of time, forty 
and two months, a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days, three years and a half — probably mean 
one and the same period, which perhaps consists of 
1260 years, and here as well as in the thirteenth 
chapter of the Revelation refers to the God-hating 
power of Rome. The beginning of this period, 
according to the view of many writers, was in the 
year of Christ 606 or 607, when the emperor of the 
East conferred upon the t bishop of Rome the title 
" Father of all Christendom." Before that the lat- 
ter had been only the father or Papa of the Chris- 
tians in the Western empire; but from that time 
the emperor officially declared and recognized him 
a Papa, that is, Pope of the entire Christianity. — 
This was the time in which "the saints of the Most 
High," the Christians were delivered into his hands; 
for by this title he was not only declared the father 
of all Christians, but he also took it for himself 
with the presumptuous assertion that he really was 
such, and in consequence he is to this day called 
"the holy Father." Now, if to 606 or 607 we add 
those 1260 years, we obtain 1866 and 1867, in 
which years the time of this power that persecuted 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 8 1 

Christ may have expired. In those years Russia, 
Prussia, and the United States recalled their minis- 
ters from Rome, and refused any longer to recognize 
the Pope as the head of a civil government • and 
in 187 1 the king of Italy took possession of Rome 
and the Papal states, and the Papal rule ceased 
forever. 

In verse 26, 27 it is said: "But the judgment 
shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to 
consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the 
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the 
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to 
the people of the saints of the Most High, whose 
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all do- 
minions shall serve and obey him." This passage 
unequivocally declares that the reigning power of 
the earth shall be taken out of the hands of God's 
enemies, and be given into the hands of His people. 

How long this judgment will continue, nobody 
knows ; and the exact time at which all these king- 
doms will cease to be, is likewise unknown. This 
sitting in judgment signifies the same as that indi- 
cated by the binding of Satan, in Rev. xx, and 
comprises "the general deliverance of the world 
from despotic power." After this deliverance the 
millennium will dawn over all the nations of the 
earth, with the full blessing of the gospel. Our form 
of government is preparing the way for the millen- 
nium, for a universal and free government for all 
the world; therefore it already contains the active 
force which will banish every other form, and ex- 



82 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

tend over all the earth. "Ask of me, and I shall 
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the 
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. — 
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou 
shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 
Psalms ii. 8, 9. 

According to many passages of the Scriptures 
nothing else may be expected, then that these gov- 
ernments will end in war and bloodshed, as also 
has been and still is proved by our own Civil War, 
the war between France and Germany, that in 
Spain, and others. There, for example, we have 
"the great wine-press of the wrath of God." Rev. 
xiv. 19, "the battle of Armageddon," ch. xvi. 14- 
16, "the supper of the great God" for the birds of 
heaven, ch. xix. 17, and other illustrations. Re- 
volutions of states and empires, insurrection and 
war are indicated in ch. xvi. 18 by lightnings, thun- 
ders, and earthquakes. This earthquake or trans- 
formation of states will be great, "such as was not 
since men were upon the earth." This general 
overthrow of all God-hating governments seems to 
be close at hand, and the near future apparently is 
pregnant with events from which wonderful events 
may be expected. In the year 1848 and 1849 the 
forerunners of those great events appeared, and 
even they caused all the thrones of Europe to 
totter. What will come to pass, when the main 
body makes its appearance ? 

5. The prophecy requires a universal empire; 
for it is said: "The kingdom shall not be left to 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 8$ 

other people." The composition of our govern- 
ment also corresponds to this prophetic saying, for 
many states are united under one Constitution, and 
if the whole world were divided into states, they 
could all be united under it. Different systems of 
government form different nations, but a govern- 
ment of the people" forms one people out of many. 
The proof of this in our country is known and 
evident unto all; therefore "the kingdom shall not 
be left to other people, and shall stand forever." — 
The word "forever" here means the longest peri- 
od; that is, as long as the earth shall be ruled by 
mankind. 

" Say among the heathen, that the Lord reigneth : 
the world also shall be established that it shall not 
be moved : He shall judge the people righteously." 
Psalms xcvi. 10. 

O thou enemy, destructions are come to a per- 
petual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their 
memorial is perished with them. But the Lord 
shall endure forever; He hath prepared His throne 
for judgment. And he shall judge the world in 
righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the 
people in righteousness. Psa. ix. 6-8. 

"He (Christ) shall have dominion also from sea 
to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the 
earth." Ps. lxxii. 8. 

"But the saints of the Most High shall take the 
kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even for 
ever and ever." Dan. vii. 18. 



84 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

SECTION IV. 



Two Witnesses, two Olive Trees, two An- 
ointed Ones, two Prophets. 

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, 
and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred 
and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These 
are the two olive-trees, and the two candlesticks 
standing before the God of the earth. And if any 
man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their 
mouth, and devoureth their enemies ; and if any 
man will hurt them, he must in this manner be 
killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it 
rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have 
power over waters to turn them to blood, and to 
smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they 
will. And when they shall have finished their testi- 
mony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottom- 
less pit shall make war against them, and shall 
overcome them, and kill them. And their dead 
bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which 
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also 
our Lord was crucified. And they of the people, 
and kindreds, and tongues, and nations, shall see 
their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall 
not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves." — 
Revelation xi. 3-9. 
I. What is represented by these two Witnesses ? 

This question is of the greatest moment in re- 
gard to this subject, for we have to deal here with 
figurative language. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 65 

The Bible explains itself especially in regard to 
figurative expressions and prophetic utterances. — 
The key to this prophecy may be found in the fourth 
chapter of Zechariah. There the prophet saw, in 
a vision, a candlestick all of gold, with seven lamps, 
similar to that in the tabernacle ; and on each side 
of the candlestick stood an olive-tree. To the 
question of the prophet: "What are these, my 
lord ? " the angel, whom he saw before him, said : 
"This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel." 
v. 6. The prophet further asked: "What are 
these two olive-trees and these two olive-branches?" 
to which the angel answered : "These are the two 
anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole 
earth." v. 14. 

Here Zerubbabel, the prince, and Joshua, the 
high priest, are associated with the word of the 
Lord, called two olive-trees, two olive-branches and 
two anointed ones standing "by the Lord of the 
whole earth." In Rev. xi. 3, 4, these two witnesses 
are called two olive-trees, and two candlesticks, 
"standing before the God of the earth." Here 
they are also called two prophets, (v. 10), because 
the prophetic office was combined with that of the 
high priest. They are branches and anointed ones, 
("olive-children") because they had to appear re- 
juvenated in the economy. 

These two witnesses can therefore be nothing else 
than the royal priesthood of Christ on earth. They 
represent His kingly and high- priestly, that is, His 
civil and ecclesiastical rule, by means of men, over 



86 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

mankind on earth. This Messianic government 
was instituted typically in the Old Testament econo- 
my, and preceded the New Testament rule of the 
Lord Jesus, both in matters, civil and ecclesiastical, 
under the form of various personages, as follows : 

i. In Melchisedec, who was both king of Salem 
and the priest of the most high God. Gen. xiv. 18. 
Melchisedec administered both the royal and the 
sacerdotal office ; he was a civil and ecclesiastical 
ruler, and thus a type of Christ of whom it is said : 
"Thou art a priest forever after the order of Mel- 
chisedec." Ps. ex. 4. 

2. In Moses and Aaron. Moses administered 
the civil, Aaron the church government. Exodus 
iv. 14-27. 

3. Joshua and Eleazar. Joshua was prince and 
captain of the host, Eleazar high-priest. Numbers 
xxvii. 18-21. 

4. In Zerubbabel and Joshua. Zerubbabel was 
"governor of Judah," and Joshua the high priest. 
Haggai ii. 2. Figuratively, they were "two olive- 
trees," as already mentioned in Zech. iv. 

Christ was King of kings and High Priest for- 
ever after the order of Melchisedec. Heb. vii. 21. 
He is a civil as well as spiritual ruler. As in the 
Old Testament He had this double office adminis- 
tered typically by men, so He has it administered 
by men in the New, both in civil and spiritual mat- 
ters. "Ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, 
and a holy nation." Ex. xix. 6. 

The history of the two witnesses in chapter 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 87 

eleventh of the Revelation, is a unity in and for it- 
self, and not related to what precedes and follows 
in this book in such a way that the one would not 
be intelligible without the other. Its contents must 
therefore be considered as something extraordinary. 

If we assume that these two witnesses represent 
a divinely- ordained government, administered ac- 
cording to the laws of the royal priesthood of the 
Lord Jesus, the devouring fire which proceedeth 
out of their mouth, their power to shut heaven, to 
turn waters into blood, and "to smite the earth with 
all plagues, as often as they will," v. 5, 6, are made 
applicable, which cannot be done upon any other 
supposition. 

Even as the Israelitish nation under Moses was 
"a kingdom of priests," (Ex. xix. 6,) so the church 
of Christ, gathered out of all nations of the earth, 
is " a kingdom of priests," destined to rule the whole 
world under Christ as High Priest and King. 

But where do we find such a two-fold adminis- 
tration, such a double government? My answer 
previously given was : "In the American Repub- 
lic." Here is civil freedom and protection for eve- 
ry honest occupation, liberty of conscience and 
protection in religious matters, such as are to be 
found nowhere else in all the world The civil gov- 
ernment takes the religious element under its pro- 
tection, but leaves to it the administration of its 
own affairs according to the convictions of con- 
science. Hence our Republic, caring for the welfare 
of all, is but one government, but in protecting both 



SS AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

civil and religious rights it is two-fold — " a kingdom 
of priests," "two witnesses." The latter also are 
"the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks stand- 
ing before the God of the earth." Satan is called 
"the God of the earth, "because he rules the world 
by means of rulers and sovereignties hostile to God, 
whose power he employs against Christianity. As 
prophesying or proclamining their right to rule, 
they are two prophets, although their proclamation 
was made in garments of mourning. As olive- 
trees and candlesticks they are givers of powers 
and nourishment, spreading light, information and 
knowledge in the world, in regard both to civil and 
spiritual matters. Especially in this relation do 
they stand before the God of the earth. 

II. The Duration of iheir Prohhecy. 
Their prophesying in sackcloth and mourning 
lasted 1260 days or years. Sackcloth or robes of 
mourning are a symbol of oppression and suffering. 
Up to the time of the American Republic, the 
church had never enjoyed liberty of conscience, 
nor ever had the privilege of arranging and perform- 
ing her worship according to the word of God, the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit, and her own internal 
convictions. Even under so-called Christian gov- 
ernments no perfect liberty of conscience was ever 
secured; and even under the administration of the 
American Republic robes of mourning had to be 
worn : for the power of slavery would not allow a 
deliverance from all bonds to be preached to its 
captives, and to announce unto them that every 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 89* 

such institution is opposed to the kingdom of Christ. 
Thus these two witnesses proclaimed their right of 
ruling by divine order for [200 years, amid persecu- 
tions, oppression and sufferings, under Papal and 
monarchial power, as well as under the slave-hold- 
ing power in the United States of America. 
III. Their Contest with the Beast of the Pit. 

Before the year 1776 and the founding of our 
Republic these witnesses had never adopted any 
form of civil government or statutes by means of 
which they could appear in civil life; but then they 
adopted one, one entirely different from every other, 
as show r n by the words of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence — "the separate and equal station to which 
the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle 
them;" and further: "All men are created equal, 
and are endowed by their Creator with certain un- 
alienable rights; among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness." 

In the form and life of this government the beast 
of the bottomless pit (not that of the sea) began 
to make w r ar against them. The pit is the abode 
of Satan; and the beast ascending thence is a 
Satanic rule, which shows its true color in the in- 
stitution of slavery. It is the slave-holding power 
that attacks these two witnesses in their civil dress 
and government; and just at the beginning of this 
war the two witnesses laid aside their sackcloth and 
mourning. 

The beginning of this war is to be "when they 
6 



X)0 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

shall have finished their testimony." Their proph- 
esying in sackcloth was during the period in which 
the Christians were persecuted, which lasted 1260 
years, and ended about the same time when the con- 
test with the beast of the pit began. The battle of 
Bull Run, July 21, 186 1, was the opening of the 
struggle; and it was on the same day that the wit- 
nesses were declared dead by the beast. It is said : 
v. 7: "The beast shall overcome them, and kill 
them." After that battle it was said among the 
Rebels and by all the monarchies of Europe, Rus- 
sia excepted: "The government of the United 
States is at an end ;" "it has ceased to exist; "there 
is an end to the Republic of America," etc. To 
kill here signifies to suspend, abolish, and render 
inactive the executive force of civil law. This was 
done; our government could no longer enforce its 
laws in the Southern States, as it is said: "Their 
dead bodies (statute) shall lie in the street of the 
great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and 
Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." 

Egypt typifies slavery; Sodom fornication and 
adultery. Both, under the form of a city, repre- 
sent all ruling institutions that are adapted to sup- 
press civil and religious freedom and to establish a 
false worship, with spiritual fornication and adultery. 
Tn the Southern States, in the monarchial sover- 
eignties and the Papal economy, the whole thing 
was and is to be found. 

Upon the street, the public market or place of 
trade of the spiritual city of fornication, where 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 9 I 

Roman Catholicism and despotic selfishness chain 
the conscience of men and suppress their rights, 
where slavery, the trade in human flesh is carried on — 
there, and there only, the bodies of these witnesses, 
their laws of human rights, were declared dead. 

" Three days and a half." This means three and 
a half years. If we add three and a half years to 
July 21, 186 r, we reach January 21, 1865. This 
is the period during which the inhabitants of this 
city should see these bodies, these statutes, dead or 
out of force. But "they shall not suffer them to 
be put in graves;" they could not be done away 
entirely; some of the people and kindreds outside 
of the city saw them, and did "not suffer them to 
be put in graves." The Confederacy of slavery 
could not be recognized as a ruling power ; the free 
government was not to be abolished or buried. 
IV. Their Being Dead and their Resurrection. 

While they were dead, was fulfilled what is said 
inverse 10: "And they that dwell upon the earth 
shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall 
send gifts one to another." The dwellers on earth 
are those who reign with the "God of the earth" — 
-with Satan and Anti- Christ. There was unbound- 
ed joy and merriment in all the slave states. Guns 
were fired, bells were rung, feasts of joy of every 
sort were held, presents were transmitted from one 
state to another. England even sent some valuable 
cannon to the state of South Carolina as a gift of 
joy for the decisive victory, as they called it, of July 
21, 186 r, over the only free and best government 



92 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

of the world. Aye, England, whose vessels cruised 
on the ocean to exterminate slavery, " cried after 
them as after a thief," (Job xxx. 5), because the 
power of slavery had gained a victory over the 
power of liberty and human rights. 

But " after three days and a half the Spirit of 
life from God entered into them, and they stood upon 
their feet ; and great fear fell upon them which sazv 
them' 1 From July 21, 1861, up to January 2i r 
1865, are three years and a half, which is the peri- 
od of their being dead. Right after this time " the 
Spirit of life from God entered them." Preparing 
the way for this new animation by the Spirit, Gen. 
Sherman toward th^. end of 1864 began his victori- 
ous march through Georgia and South Carolina. — 
Savannah fell, December 21, 1864; but the succes- 
sive victories which brought death and destruction 
to the Confederacy of slavery, and life and spirit 
to the government of liberty, were gained after 
January 21, 1865. 

Proposals of peace were made by the Rebels and 
discussed from February 1 to 3, 1865. Charleston^ 
S. C, fell, February 17; Fort Anderson was taken r 
February 22 ; Columbia, S. C, was burned, Feb- 
24; Gen. Sheridan destroyed the force of Gen. 
Early, March 3 to 13; Richmond and Petersburg 
fell, April 3 ; Gen Lee surrendered to Gen. Grant y 
April 9; Mobile, Ala., fell, April 12; Gen. John- 
son and more than a hundred other generals sur- 
rendered to Gen. Sherman, April 26. May 6 7 
Generals Can by and Taylor surrendered; on the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 93 

10th, Jefferson Davis was captured; on the 13th, 
the last battle for the slave-god was fought by Gen. 
Slaughter in Texas; on the 26th, Gen. Smith sur- 
rendered. This was the end of the war with the 
beast of the pit in the form of a confederacy of 
-slavery; and what was death to this, was life and 
power to liberty. 

It remains to be remarked that on the 31st of 
January, 1865, the Congress of the United States 
adopted an amendment to the Constitution, which 
excludes slavery forever. 

In this manner it was said to the two witnesses: 
■" Come up hither; and they ascended up to heaven 
in a cloud." Heaven singnines an exalted posi- 
tion; and the ascent being made in a cloud signi- 
fies that it was partly veiled from the eyes of men. 
Thus the government of liberty and human rights 
was not only preserved, but raised unto a higher 
station in the esteem of all the nations of the earth. 

"Kingdoms and thrones to God belong ; 
Crown him, ye nations, in your song ; 
His wondrous names and powers rehearse ; 
His honors shall enrich your verse. 

"He shakes the heavens with loud alarms ; 
How terrible is God in arms ! 
In Israel are his mercies known ; 
Israel is his peculiar throne. 

"He breaks the captives' heavy chain, 
And prisoners see the light again ; 
T3ut rebels, who dispute this will, 
'Shall dwell in chains and darkness still, 

"Proclaim him King, pronounce him blessed ; 
He's your defense, your joy, your rest ; 
When terrors rise, and nations faint, 
Ood is the strength of every saint." 



CHAPTER THIRD. 

1 

SECTION I. 



Daniel's Night- Vision of the Little Hork 
Growing out of the Roman Empire. 

Daniel spake and said: "I saw in my vision by 
night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven? 
strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts 
came up from the sea, diverse one from another,^ 
etc. Dan. vii. 2-8. 

These four great beasts are of the same empires 
that have been described in the dream of Nebu- 
chadnezzar. The last is the Roman divided into 
ten parts, represented by ten horns. 

The prophet saw this vision in the first year of 
Belshazzar, at night. His attention was particular- 
ly directed to the fourth beast, and the little horn 
which came up among the ten others, before which 
" three of the first horns were plucked up by the 
roots," in which were "eyes like the eyes of a man, 
and a mouth speaking great things," v. 8. This 
little horn is a ruling power, which must necessarily 
come forth from the Roman empire, at the time 
when the latter was already divided into ten parts 
or kingdoms, and before which three of these kings 
were plucked up. It can be no other power than 
the hierarchy of the Romish church for there is 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 95 

nothing in History that corresponds to the prophe- 
cies, except said hierarchy. The characteristic 
trait of this little horn and its long continuance can 
not be anything else than "that spirit of Anti- 
christ," "the prince of darkness," "the god of this 
world " — as he has manifested himself at different 
times in different sovereignties, and especially in 
the priestly rule of the Romish church. 

^i had "eyes like the eyes of man." The papal 
priests are looking around in every direction and 
through everything, in order to form their secret 
plans, and to carry them out. They know how to 
manage things, so that all their schemes and coun- 
sels present a fair and Christian outside, under which 
they hide their greed and selfishness, so that even 
the most abominable outrages and murders have 
been, and still are committed under pretense of 
righteousness and holiness. 'Ihe Roman hierarchy 
does not, and never did want eyes to look around 
and through purposes of evil; but at the present 
time it is wanting in power. 

"A mouth speaking great things," Big-mouthed, 
surely, is the Roman Catholicism. It has a mouth 
big enough to praise itself holy, and at the same 
time indulge in all the vices of the earth; and at 
the time of its power the lion-like roaring of the 
papal bulls caused fear and terror in many lands, 
even among kings and princes. Big-mouthed is 
this church in judging and condemning all other 
Christian denominations, as well as in the selfish 
presumption of being the only saving and divinely- 



-96 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

established institute of salvation on earth. She was 
blasphemously boastful in the year 1870, when she 
declared an old sinner at Rome not only holy as 
before, but even infallible. 

This same horn is to make war with the saints, 
and prevail against them and destroy them; and 
they shall be given into its hand "until a time and 
times and the dividing of time," until God will pass 
judgment upon it for the saints of the Most High, 
verses 21 — 26. All this has been done by this 
hierarchy. Its Pope was declared the father of all 
the faithful, consequently they are all given into his 
hands, being compelled by force of arms to accept 
what he taught, and in case of refusal to die the 
death. "I beheld, and the same horn made war 
with the saints, and prevailed against them, until 
the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given 
to the saints of the Most High; and the time came 
that the saints possessed the kingdom." verses 
21, 22. This sitting in judgment is not the last 
judgment of all nations and men, but a judgment 
upon the hierarchy of Rome, represented by the 
little horn, for the millions of Christians it has slain 
in those 1260 years — the time of its dominion over 
the Christians. God is passing His sentence upon 
it — demands an account of it, and exterminating 
it from the earth. The Pope is powerless already; 
he may burn neither Christians nor Bibles, neither 
in Rome nor elsewhere. 

This little horn, in the beginning and continuance 
of its growth, is to pluck up three horns or kings 



^7 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

empire ended, and Odoacer, leader of the Heruli- 
ans, also called in German "Heerkonig" (king of the 
army), took the government, without, however, 
possessing Rome as his capital. The chief bishop 
of Rome exercised great authority in the city and 
the whole empire, not only in church- matters, but 
in civil matters also. Odoacer therefore was in the 
way of the Pope's growing thirst of power. He 
was driven out by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 
in the year 491. This Ostrogoth king was in the 
way, too, and in 568 had to make room for Alboin, 
king of the Longobards*. The latter also hind- 
ered the growth of the little horn, and at the Pope's 
special instigation, was defeated by Charlemagne, 
of France. This monarch conquered his kingdom 
in 774, and for this act was crowned as Roman 
emperor by Pope Leo III. Earlier than that, in 
756, Pepin, king of the Franks, had presented to 
Pope Stephen III. the exarchate of Italy. 

Thus three kings were plucked up by the grow- 
ing of this little horn; the prophecy was fulfilled, 
and a secular hierarchy established in their stead. 
to rule not only in ecclesiastical matters, but in civil 
affairs also. 

In the vision of the ram and the he-goat, which 
Daniel saw in the third year of Belshazzar, (ch. viii), 
a little horn is again spoken of; but whether these 
two horns signify one and the same ruling power, is 
very doubtful. It is certain that this of chapter 
seventh can only be the Roman, The particulars 

*Or Lombards, meaning men with long beards. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 98 

of this horn will follow in the second and fifth sec- 
tions of this chapter, while that of chapter eighth 
will be explained in the fourth section. 

+ 

+ 



SECTION II. 



The Beast with seven Heads and ten Horns. 

A MONSTER BORN OUT OF THE SEA. 

See from the wave, in horrid guise, 

A seven-headed beast arise ! 

'Tis Satan's direful progeny, 

Writ o'er with names ot blasphemy ; 

With leopard's spots, and bear-like claws, 

And all-devouring lion's jaws. 

Ten crowned horns he raises high 

The God of heaven to defy ; 

The dragon's seat he shall possess, 

Who's like this monster, can you guess? 

Aye, 'tis the Pope — "His Holiness." 

" And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw 
a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads 
and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and 
upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the 
beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his 
feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as 
the mouth of a lion ; and the dragon gave him his. 
power, and his seat, and great authority. And I 
saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death ;. 
and his deadly wound was healed: and all the 
world wondered after the beast. And they wor- 
shiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast : 
and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like unto 
the beast? Who is able to make war with him? 
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking 



• 99 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

great things and blasphemies ; and power was given 
unto him to continue forty and two months. And 
he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, 
to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and 
them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto 
him to make war with the saints, and to overcome ; 
and power was given him over all kindreds, and 
tongues, and nations." Rev. xiii. 1-7. 

The above words form the basis of our intended 
fuller contemplation, and accordingly we will take 
up the following six points for a closer examination : 
First, we will consider what is represented by this 
beast ; second, his rising ; third, his shape ; fourth, 
his seat or habitation ; fifth, his work ; sixth, his ruin. 
I. What is represented by this Beast. 

Our first task, then, is to show what this beast is. 
And in order to obtain a just conception in regard 
to this matter, we must first consider two things. 

In the first place we must accept the fact that 
man was originally — in the beginning— designed and 
qualified by his Creator to cultivate and keep the 
garden of Eden, and in the progress of the race to 
rule the whole earth, (Gen. i. 28, and ii. 15); that 
the earth before the creation of man was the habita- 
tion of the angels who sinned, and through whose 
fall it became " waste and void," and covered with 
darkness; but that the earth through the six days* 
creation entered a renewed state, and that man as 
the new inhabitant and ruler thereof took the place 
which the angels had held, and for which they had 
been disqualified by this fall. The evil, revolting 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. IOO < 

lust of dominion remained in Satan and his angels, 
but not the qualification for ruling. Now, as the 
evil spirits were ejected by the Lord as incompetent 
to rule, the malicious ambition of Satan rose to 
such a height that from the very beginning he did 
all that was possible to cause man to fall, and ob- 
tain dominion over him. In this he partly succeed- 
ed. Man, enticed to sin by the temptations of 
Satan, fell, became a rebel against God, and thus 
likewise got into a state of incompetence to rule 
the ear tli, and guard it against the might of Satan. 
But the latter, though his object was partly obtain- 
ed, soon found that the Almighty, m the following 
promise, had opposed to his God-hating power a 
Divine sovereignty which was again to appear 
through man : u I will put enmity between thee 
and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; 
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his 
heel." Gen. iii. 15. For those who believe in 
Christ, the woman's seed, are delivered from the 
power of Satan, and anew made competent to 
hold the divine government of the earth. For the 
sake of man's happiness and welfare the Lord will 
rule the earth through good men ; Satan wants to 
rule it through bad men, men like himself, in order 
to bring the whole race to misery and destruction. 
Just here lies the cause of the great battle of Christ's 
church on earth. The great question now is : Shall 
Christ or Satan retain the field? 

In the second place we must know that in the 
pictorial language of the Bible, beasts signify em- 



IOI AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

pires, kingdoms and forms of government. Take 
for example, the passage in Dan. vii. 4-7, where, as 
already explained, the Babylonian empire is repre- 
sented by a lion with eagle's wings ; the Medo-Per- 
sian by a bear with three great teeth, which devoured 
much flesh; the Graeco-Macedonian by a leopard 
with four wings and four heads ; and the Latin- 
Roman by the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, 
with iron teeth and ten horns. These four beasts 
likewise arose from the sea ; they were powers hos- 
tile to God, persecuting the Israelites, the only 
people that acknowledged and revered the true God. 

The seven-headed beast here spoken of was and 
is an element of civil government, by which Satan's 
rebellious lust of power was and still is publicly 
manifested in opposition to all good things, human 
and divine. From the time of the calling of Ab- 
raham, when God chose for Himself a people on 
earth, this Satanic power, revolting, through his 
servants on earth, against the ecclesiastical and 
civil rule of the most high God, appeared under 
seven different forms of government. It was con- 
centrated, first, in the Egyptian sovereignty; sec- 
ondly, in the Assyrian; thirdly, in the Chaldeo- 
Babylonian; fourthly, in the Medo-Persian; fifthly, 
in the Graeco-Macedonian; sixthly, in the Latin- 
Roman ; and seventhly, in the Latin papal hier- 
archy, or the priestly rule of Catholic Rome. 

This is the last head of this seven-headed brood 
of Satan. Now, since the power of the whole beast 
is concentrated in this seventh head, and in that 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 102 

only life still exists, this head with ten horns is justly 
called the beast himself. The latter is known still 
better by his name and the number thereof, which, 
as may be seen in verse 18, is "six hundred three- 
score and six." This is a literal number, by which 
the beast's name is pronounced, and whose letters, 
when used as numbers and added together produce 
666. The Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters not 
only serve to express words and names, but they 
are numbers also, used with us to this day. Noth- 
ing then is wanting to impress upon the beast of 
the sea his last seal, but to find that name whose 
numerical power amounts to 666. How did the 
church-fathers understand this number of his name ? 
St. Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was a dis- 
ciple of St. John himself, maintains that the name 
in question is Lateinos, the letters of which, ac- 
cording to the Greek notation, amount to 666; 
viz. : / 30, a 1, / 300, e 5, i 10, n 50, 70, s 200. 
This is certainly the most probable solution of this 
mystery, because St. Irenaeus, a church-father of 
high character, lived so near the source that he 
could quite easily learn the meaning of that name, 
through his teacher, from the mouth of St. John 
himself ^Lyon). This word Lateinos indicates 
the name, the Latin empire and church, and the 
number of his name, which is 666. Remarkable 
in addition to this is the fact, that the holy church 
of St. Peter at Rome which serves as the headquar- 
ters of the papal chair of St. Peter is exactly 666 
feet long. 



103 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Another fact is to be noticed in connection with 
this number of his name. Over the door of the 
papal palace in Rome is placed the inscription: — 
Vic a r i n s Fi Hi Dei,'\. e. , Vicegerent of the Son 
of God. This name the Pope gave to himself. — 
If we add its numerical power, we obtain the very 
same number, 666. 

O mystery of wickedness ! what human mind can fathom 
thee? 

Or who in fitting words describe this papal monster of 
the sea ? 

Could ever human pride presume to utter this blas- 
pheming boast ; 

That God appointed him on earth vicegerent of the 
Holy Ghost? 

II. The Rising of the Beast from the Sea. 

The sand, and the waters of the 
sea, denote a countless multitude. Thus an angel 
explains it to John, by saying : "The waters which 
thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, 
and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." Rev. 
xvii. i j. This beast has slowly risen out of differ- 
ent peoples, languages, and nations. His first head 
appeared in Egypt, his second in Assyria, his third 
in Babylonia, his fourth in Persia, his fifth in Mace- 
donia, his sixth in Ro?ne, his seventh in Rome also, 
through the hierarchy of Roman Catholicism. 

All these God-hating empires as they successive- 
ly arose and exerted their hostile power, combined 
to form this beast ; but as this power in its seven- 
fold division is concentrated and completed in the 
seventh head, this seventh, last, and ten-horned 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 04 

head is the beast himself in his perfection, and 
therefore its rising is specially noticed. 

The rising of the papal hierarchy took place at 
the time of the migration of nations and the vari- 
able governments of Rome, between the years 375 
and 756, in which the " exarchate of Ravenna," in 
Italy, was presented to Pope Stephen III. by Pepin, 
king of France. 

1. The proper beginning of the great migration 
of nations was made by the Huns, a wild, warlike, 
rapacious people who in the year 375 left their camp 
in Asia, and, pushing westward, lighted upon the 
Alani. These were unable to withstand the shock 
of the Huns, and joined the victors. Now the 
joint expedition crossed the Don, the old boundary- 
line of Europe. Next they fell in with the Goths, 
who were divided by the river Dnieper into Eastern 
and Western Goths (Ostrogoths and Visigoths). — 
These, too, were unable to resist the extraordinary 
momentum, and those of them that were not killed, 
also joined the conquerors. Thus re-enforced, the 
latter defeated the Roman emperor in 378, and 
amid terrible devastations approached close to the 
walls of Constantinople. However, the newly- 
elected emperor Theodosius made peace with this 
dreadful enemy, and they turned back. This em- 
peror divided the Roman empire into two parts : 
the East and the West, or Orient and Occident. — 
The division was made in the year 395. Rome 
was the capital of the Western, and Constantino- 
ple that of the Eastern or Greek (Byzantine) empire. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 105 

2. The next devastating expedition was headed 
by Alaric, king of the Visigoths, in 403. Like a 
desolating tempest he rushed through Greece into 
Italy, but was defeated by the Roman army and 
driven out. His second expedition, in the year 
409, brought him before the gates of Rome. Rome 
trembled; but 5,000 pounds of gold and 30,000 
pounds of silver pacified the hero; and he with- 
drew. His next expedition, however, brought him 
by storm into the city itself, and he gave it to be 
plundered by the Goths. This happened on the 
fourth day of August, 410. 

3. As the troops of the East and the West were 
drawn out of all provinces to the capitals, to defend 
these, one horde after another invaded the former, 
so that Spain, Gaul (France) and Britain were torn 
away from the Western empire and formed into 
new kingdoms. 

4. The Huns, who had set these nations in mo- 
tion, lived between the Volga and the Danube until 
the year 444. At that period Attila, their king, 
united their different tribes into one, He was 
called " the Scourge of God." Under his leader- 
ship the Huns, in the year 450, again broke forth 
from their camp, this time in Hungary, with a force 
of 600,000 men. Their impetus was powerful, and 
their expedition into Gaul, now France, attended 
with terror and destruction. The Romans, West- 
ern Goths, and other tribes united themselves to 
oppose this dreadful army of the Huns. The armies 



lo6 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

met on the wide Catalaunian fields, at the present 
Chalons in France, where the greatest battle of na- 
tions ever fought in Europe took place. Sixty thou- 
sand corpses covered the field after the battle. — 
Attila was defeated for the first time. This hap- 
pened in 451. The next year already he again 
marched with his incomparable Huns through Italy 
towards Rome ; but prayers and presents induced 
him to turn back, and he died in 453. 

5. Odoacer, leader of the Herulians under 
Attila, also called in German "Heerkoenig" (king of 
the army), knew how to persuade Rumulus Augustu- 
lus, the last Roman emperor, to abdicate, and reign- 
ed fifteen years, beginning in 476. From that 
time Route no longer had an e7nperor. Let the 
reader take note of this. 

6. In the year 491 Theodoric, king of the Os- 
trogoths, destroyed the kingdom of Odoacer, and 
then founded that of the Ostrogoths, which con- 
tinued 77 years. 

7. In the year 568 Alboin, king of the Longo- 
bards, put an end to the Byzantine lieutenancy, the 
"Exarchate of Ravenna" in Italy, and founded at 
Rome the kingdom of the Longobards, which con- 
tinued 206 years, or to the year 774* 

These three kings are the three horns plucked up 
before the little horn, as shown in the seventh chap- 
ter of Daniel. 

8. In the year 752 Pepin, king of the Franks, 

* Anderson's General, or Weber's Outlines of Univer- 
sal His tor v. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 107 

took Ravenna, and in 756 presented it to Pope 
Stephen III. That was the beginning of the 
Papal States. 

Out of this sea of nations, this disordered and 
confused mass of peoples, John saw this beast, the 
hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church, together 
with the ten kingdoms that are animated by his 
spirit, rise slowly and in defiance of every power. 
So much concerning the sea. Next: — 

The Rising- Spiritual and Civil 
Power. 1. In the last quarter of the second 
century a book appeared among the adherents of 
Clement the Third, bishop of Kome from the year 
75 to 81, maintaining that Peter ; without Paul, 
had been the founder of the congregation at Rome, 
and that Clement had received the bishopric out 
of his hands. Thus this idea was recognized in 
the third century as correct: that the bishops of 
Rome possessed the chair of St. Peter. 

2. In the dispute concerning the Lord's supper 
and the passover, when in regard to time and prac- 
tice Christianity was divided by three opinions, the 
first general Council at Nice, in the year 325, de- 
cided in favor of the Roman bishops, and declared 
-all other opinions to be heretical. 

3. In the fourth century great privileges and 
power were given to the bishops by Constantine, 
especially to those in the capitals of the different 
provinces. To them was entrusted the administra- 
tion of all church-property, and in disputes of doc- 
trine ; they, when assembled, were made the sole 



108 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

judges. They were called metropolitans and ex- 
arc hi ; finally all bishops that had their residence 
in the capitals of the different provinces were called 
patriarchs. There were five of these, who resided 
respectively at Jerusalem, Constantinople, Rome, 
Antioch, and Alexandria. They were the chiefs 
of all the bishops of the church, while each for 
himself stood at the head of those in his own dio- 
cese. Without their consenf no ecumenical, that 
is, general council, could be held. 

4. At the Council of Sardica, in Illyria, in the 
year 343, it was resolved that to the bishop of 
Rome, as to a trustworthy representative of the 
true faith, belonged the right of receiving appeals 
from bishops already sentenced, and of appointing 
new judges for a final decision, as he thought proper. 

Notwithstanding the efforts of the Byzantine em- 
peror to secure to the bishop of Constantinople a 
rank equal to that of the bishop of Rome, the sec- 
ond general Council held at Constantinople in the 
year 381, awarded to the former, the bishop of New 
Rome, only the first ra?ik below that of the bishop 
of ancient Rome. 

5. The patriarchs were the spiritual providers 
of the entire Roman empire. Before, as well as 
after the division of the latter, they were guardians 
over emperors, governors, and high civil officers. 
From this elevated station and spiritual authority 
arose their civil power. As administrators of the 
immense wealth of the church they enjoyed a high 
degree of respect, in regard both to spiritual and 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I09 

civil affairs; the influence they exerted upon poli- 
tics and matters of state was so powerful, that even 
emperors had to sue for their favor. The patriarch 
of Rome, being the only one in the Western em- 
pire, had a considerable advantage in this respect. 
By his title he was equal to the others; this he re- 
fused, and never accepted for himself; but in order 
to have preference in everything, in dignity and 
name, he called himself "Papa," the Pope. 

6. In the year 445 the bishop of Rome, as such, 
was made the spiritual head of the entire West by 
an imperial decree; and in 606 the long-chosen 
title of "Papa" — Pope — was awarded to bishop 
Boniface III. by the emperor Phocas, and the 
bishop declared head of the whole Christian church. 
Papa — Pope is his name. This was the beginning 
•of the time, when, according to the prophecies of 
Daniel, the "saints of the Most High" were given 
into the hands of the beast, "until a time and times 
and the dividing of time," Dan. vii. 25. This was 
his spiritual completion. 

7. In the year 756 Pepin, king of the Franks, 
presented the exarchate of Ravenna, in Italy, to 
Pope Stephen III., thereby making him a civil 
ruler. This was a civil completion, 149 years lster. 

From the above may be seen how the beast 
slowly arose from the sea of nations, gradually gain- 
ing its ecclesiastical and civil power. Now as it 
stands before us, we will view its shape, constantly 
bearing in mind that we have to do with the priestly 
rule of Roman Catholicism. 



IIO AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

III. The Shape of the Beast. 
That he is a fearful monster, is self-evident. The 
composition of the most dreadful beast of prey 
makes his external shape terrific, and renders it 
easy to guess his internal disposition. 

i. He had seven heads and ten horns. 

In chapter seventeenth an angel explains what is 
prefigured by the beast, and his seven heads and 
ten horns, as follows: "The seven heads are seven 
mountains on which the woman sitteth. And there 
are seven kings : five are fallen, and one is, and the 
other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he 
must continue a short space. And the beast that 
was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the 
seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns 
which thou sawest are ten kings, which have re- 
ceived no kingdom as yet; but receive power as 
kings one hour with the beast." Verse 9-12. 

The seven heads, according to this, "are seven 
mountains on which the woman sitteth." The un- 
clean and lacivious woman, the Romish church of 
unbelief and superstition, sits in Rome. The latter 
stands on seven hills, for, as all the world knows, it 
is " the Seven-hilled City." 

But these heads also are "seven kings" — king- 
doms, empires, sovereignties. Five were already 
fallen at the time of St. John : the Egyptian, As- 
syrian, Chaldeo- Babylonian, Medo- Persian, and 
Graeco- Macedonian. "One is" — the sixth, the 
pagan empire of Rome. This sixth head is the one 
that received the deadly wound. This wound was 



AX HISTORICAL GUIDE. I I I 

struck by Constantine, who, in the year 324, ele- 
vated Christianity to be the state religion, and in 
330 forbade the heathen worship. That was a 
deadly wound for the state power of Rome that 
had persecuted the Christians. This is the beast 
that was, and is not, and yet is: "the beast that 
thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out 
of the bottomless pit." Verse 8. "It was" — in the 
sixth head, in the pagan empire; "it is not" — no 
longer in that, because that power was abolished 
and thus the sixth head received its deadly wound. 
As this God-hating power could not retain the 
civil government, it was for a time put out of ex- 
istence; therefore the beast with the deadly wound 
returned to the pit, his own home, the dwelling of 
Satan. But "he shall ascend out of the bottom- 
less pit," and re- appear, in full civil power, in the 
priestly rule of Roman Catholicism. And he shall 
1 go into perdition;" that is, this civil power shall 
as such be doomed and abolished by mankind. 

The hierarchy of Catholic Rome is the beast out 
of the pit, and the seventh head of the beast. In 
one respect it is also the eighth, and is "of the 
seven ; " for " five are fallen, and one is " — the sixth 
— "and the other" — the seventh — "is not yet 
come ; and when he cometh, he must continue a 
short space." Verse 10, n. 

N. B. — In the year of Christ 395 the Roman 
empire was divided into two parts — the Western 
and the Eastern. In 476 an end was put to the 
Western empire by Odoacer, the German " Heer- 



112 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

kcenig." He reigned at Rome as king of Italy for 
fifteen years — "a short space." Since Rome is 
designated as the seat of the seventh God-hating 
sovereignty, the angel directs our attention to the 
fact that this seventh, which is to ascend thither 
from the bottomless pit as the seventh head of the 
beast, is not exactly the first after the sixth or im- 
perial power; he says: "He is the eighth, and is 
of the seven." But it is the seventh also; for "his 
deadly wound was healed." The Christ-persecuting 
sovereignty of Rome was restored through the 
popes and priests of the Romish church, something 
that was never done before Constantine destroyed 
this malignant civil power. 

True, Rome was ruled many years by the Goths 
as well as by the Longobards, after Odoacer ; but 
these rather were foreign rulers, as they never made 
Rome their seat of government. 

2. The ten horns of the beast. "And the 
ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which 
have received no kingdom as yet." These ten 
kingdoms, though formerly their names and boun- 
daries were different, and they have undergone 
many other alterations, are at present about as fol- 
lows: Portugal, Spain, France, England, Prussia, 
Austria, Germany, Sardinia, Sicily, and the Papal 
States. The crowns of these ten heads show that 
these countries are ruled by kings or crowned heads. 

3. His body is like unto a leopard, his feet 
as the feet of a bear, his lnouth as the mouth 
of a lion. 



AX HISTORICAL GUIDE. 113 

The spotted body of a leopard denotes the varie- 
gated composition of rude and rapacious tribes and 
nations, which produced this beast. The pied and 
many-colored doctrinal system of the Romish 
•church, the result of a mingling of Jewish, Pagan 
and Christian notions, with presumptuous phan- 
tasies of men, may also be represented thereby; 
for the church of Rome is embelished to such a 
degree with all sorts of wild and strange ideas, that 
oppose the true nature of Christianity, that it is 
easy to perceive therein the " mystery of wicked- 
ness," that is, the mystery of the tiger. There are 
— rosaries, auricular confession, sacrifice of the 
mass, holy water, the burning of tapers and incense, 
cleansing by purgatory, worship of the saints, abso- 
lution and remission of sin offered by the priests in 
Christ's stead; also seven sacraments, five of which 
are false, — penitence, marriage, confirmation, the 
ordaining of priests, and extreme unction. Marri- 
age is recognized by this church as a sacrament, 
but, as it seems, not for their priests, to prove that 
they are a priesthood without a sacrament. 

Ytisfeet like the feet of a bear denote his pro- 
gress on sea and land, on trees and in caverns. 
Papacy finds its way to the high and the low, to 
heathen and civilized nations. Its bear's feet also 
serve as instruments to catch and crush its foes. 
Every part of the image is admirably realized in 
the Roman papacy. 

Its lion's mouth is a fearful instrument of tear- 
ing and devouring. The lion is the king of beasts 



114 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

of prey, and so is this beast. It is estimated that 
sixty-eight millions of innocent persons have already 
been trod down and crushed by its bear's feet, and 
devoured by its lion's jaws. The lion's roar inspires 
all creatures with terror; so did the anathemas of 
the popes: they made kings and emperors tremble. 
The lion-like roaring of the papal bulls terrified all 
the land. 

4- Names of blasphemy he bears upon 
his heads. These are such names as he arrogates, 
to himself, and by w T hich he makes himself equal 
to God, thus blaspheming His holy name; such as 
Viceregent of Christ, Father of the Church, His 
Holiness, Infallibility. Names lik^ these, which 
belong to the Most High alone, stand written upon 
his heads, and they are the names of blasphemy 
against the God of heaven. 

Thus we have seen this monster that has arisen 
from the sea of nations, in his own proper shape; 
we will proceed to view his seat and habitation. 
IV. The Beast's Seat, Habitation, and Power. 

u And the dragon gave him his power, and his 
seat, and great authority," (ver. 3). The red dra- 
gon described in chapter twelfth was the satanic r 
Christ-persecuting power of pagan Rome, during 
the first three centuries of Christianity; conse- 
quently Rome was the dragon's throne, seat, habi- 
tation, and home. This seat, together with the 
dragon's authority, was given to the beast, which 
now appears under the semblance of Christianity, 
in the Roman papacy. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 115 

Rome, thou second Babylon ! 
''Mother of harlots and abominations of the earth ! *' 
"Habitation of devils ! " 

Is there anything worse to be made of thee? 
"The hold of every foul spirit ! " 
"A cage of every unclean and hateful bird ! " 
O thou dwelling place of murderers and tyranical brutes, 
Eome ! 

V. The Beast's Actions. 

1. "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy 
against God, to blaspheme His name, and His 
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven." 

He reviles God by the names of blasphemy 
which he bears, such as "Holy Father," "Vicere- 
gent of Christ," "His Holiness," "Infallibility," etc. 

He reviles His name by papal bulls 
that in the name of the Father, Son and Holy 
Ghost pronounce upon the excommunicated per- 
son such curses and imprecations as betray none 
but the most insolent arrogance of a malicious heart. 

He reviles His tabernacle, His 
church on earth, in declaring the Papacy as the 
only saving church, and uttering his sentence of 
condemnation against all other Christians. Judg- 
ment belongs to God only ; to Him alone man is 
responsible for all his actions. The Papacy blas- 
phemes His tabernacle, God's church, so called be- 
cause He dwells among them, in condemning the 
saints of the Lord by anathemas that are filled with 
blasphemies. 

"And them that dwell in heav- 
en." The inhabitants of heaven are reviled in 



Il6 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

that he ascribes to them divine properties and pays 
them divine honors, and in that they are called 
upon, in the papal bulls, to assist in condemning 
those intended ; as when it is said: "May the 
apostles and prophets, the patriarchs, and all holy 
martyrs, together with those who are washed in the 
blood of Christ, and all the saints of heaven, con- 
demn him (or her)." These are frightful blas- 
phemies against them that dwell in heaven. And 
in how many thousand ways do they revile Mary, 
the mother of Christ ? Here is a prayer as a proof: 
"O most blessed and immaculate virgin, Mother of 
my God ! Thou art very powerful and kind : ele- 
vated above all angels and men; purer than the 
rays of the sun, more adorable than the seraphim, 
incomparably more glorious than all the choirs of 
heaven. O sacred woman ! thou hope of the pa- 
triarchs, thou desire of the prophets, thou ornament 
of the apostles, and honor of the martyrs, thou joy 
of the righteous, thou crown of virgins ! Through 
thee, O pitying Princess of heaven and of earth ! 
Through thee we have been reconciled to the eter- 
nal justice of thy and our Creator. Divine Moth- 
er, receive us and keep us through thy goodness, 
and by thy protection. Queen of the world, in- 
tercessor, hope and protector of sinners ! I turn 
to thee and thank thee for so much grace shown 
unto me, especially that thou hast delivered me 
from the punishments of hell so often deserved. — 
I set all my hope upon thee; through thy media- 
tion I expect my salvation. Receive me as thy 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 1 7 

servant, and keep me under thy protecting robe, 
O mother of mercy !" Though the pious mother 
of the Lord Jesus is not, and can not be the papal 
" Mother of God," she is reviled in the most de- 
grading manner, and the God of heaven with her, 
through such impudent absurdities. 

2. "And it was given unto him to make war 
with the saints, and to overcome them." His acts 
against God consist not only in blasphemy, but 
also in making war with the saints, the Christians, 
and overcoming them. In considering his contest 
with the saints two points are to be observed: first, 
the power by which he makes war, and second, 
the means which he uses. The power is that of the 
dragon, it is the might of Satan exerted outwardly 
through state-constitutions. The arm of the state 
and of civil government therefore is the means used 
by the beast in his war with the Christians. It is 
self-evident that those state-constitutions had to be 
animated by the spirit of the beast, that of the 
dragon, and to be fired afresh from time to time. 

In the first place he makes war through the other 
beast coming up out of the earth (v. 11-17); and 
secondly, through the ten horns, which he bears 
upon his lion's head. Xow will be developed the 
joint nature of the leopard, the bear, and the lion. 
May God give us patience to view the greatest 
abominations of the earth. Amen. 

First, we consider the helping beast of the 
earth. " And I beheld another beast coming up 
out of the earth ; and he had two horns like a 



Il8 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

lamb, and he spake as a dragon" (v. n). Thi s 
helping beast with two horns and like a lamb, is of 
the earth, that is, of civil state constitutions. He 
is no other than the united Christ persecuting 
power of the two monastic orders (indicated by two 
horns) of the Dominicans and Franciscans, who, 
as spiritual, lamb-like judges of heretics, exercised 
the same through the tribunal of the inquisition? 
called " the Sacred Office." 

The Dominicans. Dominicus, the found- 
er, was born in Spain in 1170, preached in southern 
France against the Albigenses, and there laid the 
foundation of his order. In 12 16 the Pope con- 
firmed the latter under the name of " Preaching 
Brethren." They were also called "Beloved Bre- 
thren of the Holy Virgin." The order rapidly 
spread in England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, 
Denmark, etc. By Gregory IX. and Innocent IV., 
its members were appointed to "the Sacred Office," 
and received unlimited power to seek out and ex- 
terminate heretics. In 1494 the order already 
numbered above 4000 monasteries. 

The Franciscans. Francis, born at Sole- 
to in the Papal State, in the town of Assisi, in the 
year 1182, inclined to monastic life in 1201. He 
began to wander about in filthy garments, begging 
and preaching repentance. Seven associates of the 
same disposition being found, the foundation of a 
monastic order, called after his name, was laid in 
1209. This was shortly afterwards confirmed by 
Innocent III. As Francis always wandered about 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. IIQ 

Pegging and filthy, and often rolled himself naked 
among thorns or in the snow, he soon acquired the 
reputation of a saint. He and the brethren of his 
order journeyed through Spain, France, and Por- 
tugal, and by constant preaching had gained up- 
wards of 5000 members in the year 12 19. At the 
beginning of the eighteenth century they numbered 
above 7000 monasteries and 900 nunneries, in which 
lived 115,000 monks and 28,000 nuns. 

In the year 1202 Dominicus and Francis, with 
their few adherents, were sent forth by the Pope to 
preach obedience to the pontifical chair, and to in- 
quire where and how many heretics, Albigenses 
and Waldenses, might be found in town and coun- 
try. After information obtained concerning their 
number and dwelling place, they were to communi- 
cate the same to the bishops, and to deliver an exact 
report to the Apostolic See. Since their chief 
business was to seek out, to investigate, and to in- 
quire, they were called inquisitors, i. e., questioners, 
inquirers; hence the term Inquisition. They only 
preached at first, and their espionage was not at- 
tended with compulsory measures; but, when their 
order was confirmed by the Pope, they gained in 
reputation and power, and soon a papal decree 
.appointed them as judges, not merely as seekers of 
heretics. They had been inqisitors, now they were 
inquirers and judges combined. This tribunal of 
heretics w r as called by the Holy See "the Sacred 
Office;" hence, "the holy Inquisition. " Those 
whom the inquisitors hitherto could not bring to 



120 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

the Romish faith by preaching, they now compelled 
to accept it by judicial force. 

Though these two orders held opposing views 
concerning the immaculate conception of the Bless- 
ed Virgin Mary/' they were united in persecuting 
the Christians, and did their utmost to exterminate 
them or convert them to the Romish faith — all to 
strengthen the papal authority. 

The Dominicans, with whom the Jesuits were 
associated in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- 
turies, did not believe in an immaculate conception 
of St. Mary; the Franciscans, however, maintained 
it. This divided, but in its chief purpose spiritual- 
ly and civilly united power, is the beast of the earth 
having two horns like a lamb. In short, he is a 
wolf in sheep's clothing. So much concerning the 
beast; next, concerning his assistance. 

"(He) causeth the earth" — state constitutions — 
" and them which dwell therein" — their subjects — 
"to worship the first beast." There never was a 
power that, even against the will of many bishops, 
kings, and princes, contributed more to the estab- 
lishment of the papal hierarchy among the high 
and low, than just these two monastic orders. — 
What they could not accomplish by preaching, they 
accomplished through their fear-inspiring tribunal, 
"the Sacred Office" The ignorant and superstitious 
people willingly yielded obedience to every demand 
of the Holy See; those, however, who would not, 
nor could conscientiously, either had to yield to the 
fear of die murderous Inquisition, or to die. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. • 121 

"(He) deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by 
the means of those miracles which he had power 
to do." " He maketh fire come down (fall) from 
heaven," (verses 14, 13). Fire signifies punishment 
with which the papal church threatens the disobedi- 
ent, such as imprisonment and death by sword and 
fire; these he causes to fall, i. e., he applies and 
actually inflicts the punishments with which he has 
threatened. The robbing, murdering, torturing, 
and burning, acknowledged and sanctioned by the 
Papal See, as the first beast, and employed and 
carried out by the second, are "those miracles 
which he had power to do," by which he deceived 
them that dwell on the earth, and said to them that 
they should make an image to the beast. This 
image is a constitution of government, correspond- 
ing to the spirit or interior of the beast, which is 
fierce rapacity, and an insatiate thirst of blood and 
of sole dominion. This three-fold interior must 
have an image, an external form, a civil constitu- 
tion, so that robbing and murdering may be done 
lawfully. The inhabitants of the earth, who in- 
deed have their own civil laws, had to make and 
acknowledge this image. They did so; for the 
different kingdoms under papal influence not only 
recognized the rights of the "the holy Inquisition," 
but assisted in executing its decrees. As soon as 
the Inquisition had pronounced the sentence of 
burning, burying alive, or whatever it was, the offi- 
cers of the state had to carry it out. Thus the 



122 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

inhabitants of the earth, the citizens of different 
states, had to make an image to the beast, to give 
him legal rights to indulge his tyranny, rapacity, 
and murderous desires, and to furnish executors of 
his sentence in their own officers. 

"And he had power to give life unto the image 
of the beast, that the image of the beast should both 
speak, and cause that as many as would not wor- 
ship the image of the beast should be killed," (v. 15). 

This second beast, the wolf-sheep, gave life, exis- 
tence, to the image; that it should speak — utter 
sentences and put them into execution ; and that 
as many as would not worship the image, should be 
killed. To worship signifies to acknowledge, re- 
spect ; whoever would not do this, had to be killed. 

To kill and destroy is as natural to this beast, as 
to the bear, the leopard, and the lion. Let us see 
how the beast with the two horns causes all non- 
worshipers of the first one to be killed. 

At the assembly of the papal legates, held in the 
year 1229, at Toulouse, in France, the tribunal of 
the Inquisition was placed on a solid foundation. 
It was ordered that all bishops and priests should 
unite in hunting up heretics ; in certain towns and 
districts priests and laymen were appointed to do 
so, and to deliver to the holy Inquisition such as 
they might find. The first court was established 
at Toulouse ; and so fearful were its proceedings 
against the Waldenses, Albigenses, and all those of 
different belief (who were called by the general 
name of Albigenses), that in a short time many 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 23 

thousands had been buried alive, burned, and mur- 
dered in every possible cruel way. Robert, sur- 
tiamed "the Hammer of Heretics," in less than 
three months had more than fifty persons burned 
and buried alive at Toulouse. Thence this court 
of inquisitors passed into all countries animated by 
Roman Catholicism — England, Ireland, Germany, 
Portugual, Spain, and even into South America 
and Mexico. Murder, robbing and devastation 
followed as far as it went. 

This "Sacred Office" ordered three kinds of 
torture : i. Pulling up by the feet, with the head 
hanging down; and by the hands, with ioo pounds 
weight fastened to the feet. 2. Stretching out by 
hands and feet upon a rack, while water was pour- 
ed into their mouths. 3. Roasting the naked feet 
upon a pan of glowing coals. Read the history of 
the martyrs, and you will be convinced of the truth 
of this. He who could endure these tortures with- 
out dying under them, was burned. In proof of 
the cruelties of the "Sacred Office" I will subjoin 
a brief extract from a small church-history : 

" The first torture was to pull up the terrified 
victim towards two beams placed some distance 
apart, and to leave him hanging thus, with his head 
down. The chief Dominican then said to him : — 
M Confess, my son, confess." If this remained 
without the desired result, the accused was pulled 
up by the wrists, while a heavy weight hung at his 
feet; there he was left to hang until the pain be- 
came so violent that he set up a wail of anguish. — 



124 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

This was interrupted by the mockery of the furies, 
who cried out to him, calling him "dog and here- 
tic ! " Then the tormentors were commanded to 
slacken the rope, and to pull the poor whining vic- 
tim up and down, till every joint of his body was 
torn asunder. If, upon his recovery from these 
torments, the prisoner still refused to confess, they 
laid him into a hollow chest, with his back upon a 
cross-shaped pale that sorely wounded him. Here- 
upon a piece of fine linen was laid over his mouth 
and nostrils; upon this water was poured in a thin, 
long stream, so that it forced the linen deep down 
into the gullet. Thus they kept on till the poor 
sufferer was drawing his last rattling breath; then 
the linen was suddenly pulled out of his mouth, 
followed by streams of blood. If all these barbari- 
ties failed to compel the accused to state what he 
did not know, or to betray his associates, he was 
brought to a pan of coals, and his feet placed upon 
it, and laid over with bacon, so that they might be 
thoroughly fried and roasted." 

The number of victims demanded by this " sa- 
cred" tribunal of Satan, almost passes belief. — 
From the year 1233, in which it was introduced 
into Spain, up to 1481, the number of prisoners of 
both sexes was 3,410,215. The greater part had 
to pine away in filthy prisons; others ended their 
lives amid pains and tortures of every sort, and 
3 1 , 45 o were buried alive. When in 1 48 1 the court of 
Inquisition was opened at Sevilla, Thomas de Tor- 
quemada was chosen as chief inquisitor. 106,285 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 25 

persons fell under him as victims of the most re- 
volting barbarities of his court. 51,167 fell under 
his successor Cismeros, and 34,952 under Dingo 
Perez. This was a terrible scourge for Spain. — 
How many human beings fell as victims of this 
horrible tribunal of blood in all cities and coun- 
tries, is not exactly known ; but their number must 
be many thousands of thousands. So much has 
been deemed necessary to be said concerning the 
two- horned beast of the earth, the fellow-combatant 
of the first beast of the sea, in his war with the 
" saints of the Most High." 

Second, the contest of the beast with the saints, 
by means of his ten horns or kingdoms. 

At the instigation of the Pope, a Synod in the 
year 1095 ordered the Crusades to Jerusalem, to 
take the Holy City from the Sultan of Turkey, and 
bring Palestine under Christian administration. — 
In consequence of this, 600,000 persons set out for 
Jerusalem from France, Germany, and the different 
provinces and kingdoms of Italy. The cross was 
the emblem of this host. In the year 1096 they 
left Europe, all under the Pope's assurance of in- 
dulgence for many years. Robbery and murder 
attended them on their march. They seized upon 
all they could get and carry along with them ; in- 
nocent women and children, as well as the soldiers 
opposed to them, were killed without mercy. In 
the year 1099 they stormed Jerusalem, and of 40,- 
000 soldiers and many inhabitants they left only 
-22,000 alive. Ten thousand persons, mostly wo- 



126 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

men and childen, fled into the temple;* all these 
perished. Children were seized by the feet and 
their heads struck against the walls, that blood and 
brains clung to them. But famine, disease, and 
the sword put a check upon this great expedition, 
so that of the army of 600,000 men only 35,000 
remained at Jerusalem. As the conquests could 
not be retained, a second expedition soon became 
necessary, which was undertaken in t i 47 with kings- 
and princes at its head. After two years, however r 
they returned with a very few men. Hunger, dis~ 
' ease, and the sword almost annihilated the vast 
army, before it could accomplish anything. 

Jerusalem was conquered by the Sultan of Egypt 
in 1 187, and the Christians (?) (devils) were driven 
out. Then began another crusade, 150,000 men 
strong, in the year n 89. The Crusades lasted al- 
most 200 years, and nearly all the kings of Europe- 
took part in them. Their sole purpose was to 
plunder and to kill, but in this the greater part of 
the Crusaders lost their own lives. Those expedi- 
tions to the Holy Land cost hundreds of thousands,, 
aye, millions of human lives. All this was the 
fruitage of the Holy Father ! 

The Crusades against the Waldenses and Albi- 
genses in the interior of Europe, decreed by Pope 
Innocent III., and carried on by Count Simon 
de Montfort with three hundred thousand warri- 
ors, and afterwards by the French king Louis- 
VIIL, lasted twenty years, beginning in 1209, and 

*That is, the Mohammedan temple. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 27 

cost the lives of nearly a million of Christians. 

In the night of St. Bartholomew, August 24, 1572, 
seven thousand persons of every age and sex, were 
mercilessly slaughtered. This massacre is called 
"the Bloody Nuptials of Paris. ,, Thence com- 
mands were issued to murder the Huguenots or 
heretics throughout all France, so that between 
seventy and a hundred thousand victims fell within 
thirty days. The incomparable murderous appetite 
of the papal beast was hereby so well gratified that 
Pope Gregory XIII. had his city illuminated, and 
a solemn procession held, and a medal struck in 
commemoration of the event. 

The thirty years' war, which continued from 1 6 1 8 
to 1648, which dissolved nearly the whole of Ger- 
many in ruins, which plunged the country into the 
utmost misery, and destroyed many thousand thou- 
sands of human lives without regard to age or sex, 
was nothing but the Pope's benevolence toward the 
"holy church," which he administers as the "vice- 
gerent of Christ." Upon her forehead then is writ- 
ten the name: " Mystery, Babylon the 
Great, the 31other of Harlots and 
Abominations of the Earth/' She is 
the whore that is "drunken with the blood of the 
saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." 
Revelations xvii. 5-6. 

"The entire number of those who in some way or 
other, were sacrificed by the papal beast at his tribunal 
of blood, is estimated at 68,000,000." How many 
fell in other ways is known to the Omniscient only. 



128 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Thus we have seen that whatever is said, in the 
pictorial language of prophecy, concerning this 
beast, anchors in Roman Catholicism ; and that all 
these images may be applied thereto without re- 
straint. There never was a power on earth that 
could or can suitably correspond to them, but this 
one, this Papacy, that has sprung from hell and the 
abyss. His rising from the sea of nations, his blas- 
phemies against God and His church, his beastly 
shape, rapacious disposition, his thirst for dominion 
and blood, his acts against God and His cause on 
earth and in heaven, his schemes devised in the 
lowest regions and infernal presumptions — all are 
presented so admirably and convincingly in these 
images, that even a denier of God and the Bible, 
if he could look into these mysteries, must become 
a believer in the Scriptures and their divine Author ; 
for no man can withstand such a clearness. 

Now, though this beast overcomes the saints, it 
is only for a certain time; the final victory must be 
on the side of the "saints of the Most High;" for 
"they overcome him by the blood of the Lamb, 
and by the word of their testimony; and they love 
not their lives unto the death." The church has 
never yet renounced her rights. Seemingly over- 
come, but not conquered, she caries on the struggle 
under her Captain, with the certain hope of final 
triumph; for her leader is "King 1 of king's, 
and Lord of lords/' 

VI. The Ruin of the Beast. 

" Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is be- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 29 

<eome the habitation of devils, and the hold of eve- 
ry foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hate- 
ful bird." " For her sins have reached unto heaven, 
and God hath remembered her iniquities. Reward 
her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her 
double, according to her works : in the cup which 
she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she 
hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much 
torment and sorrow give to her : for she saith in 
her heart. I sit a queen, and am no widow, and 
shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues 
come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; 
and she shall be utterly burned with fire : for strong 
is the Lord God who judgeth her." Rev. xviii. 2, 5-8. 

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great 
millstone and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus 
with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown 
down, and shall be found no more at all." v. 21. 
The beast "shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, 
and go into perdition." ch. xvii. 8. How long he 
shall continue is expressed in the following words : 
44 And power was given unto him to continue forty 
and two months." ch. xiii. 5. 

All these and other passages of Scripture show 
that the beast's destiny is fixed, and that the Lord 
has decreed how far he shall come. When his 
time, those forty-two months were out, or will be, 
we do not know. This period is mentioned re- 
peatedly in this book, as a time and times and the 
dividing of time," "a thousand two hundred and 
threescore days," and forty and two months," all of 



130 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

which expressions seem to signify a time of equal 
length. The interpreters of this book differ greatly 
in their opinions concerning the length of the peri- 
ods mentioned therein ; but the greater part, com- 
paring these passages with others, in which a day 
is reckoned for a year, agree in believing that the 
same is done here. In case this is correct, the 
duration of the beast must be 1260 years. This 
is the generally received opinion. Now, if we 
could find the exact time of his beginning, we 
could readily determine that of his end. Possibly 
his beginning would not improperly be placed at 
the time when Boniface obtained the title Pope, or 
head of all the churches, from the emperor Phocas, 
which happened in the year 606. Yet be this as it 
may, one thing is certain : all powers that oppose 
God must fall. No power that interferes with the 
conscience of men, can continue to exist ; liberty 
of conscience and religion must come for humani- 
ty. Before the mystery of wickedness, the union 
of church and state> the interdict laid upon men's 
consciences is suspended, a general extension of 
the kingdom of Christ can not be thought of. — 
But the papal beast can not continue much longer; 
his power is gone, never to return. The crowned 
Rider in his blood-dyed vestment is at the gate, to 
undertake the last battle with the beast and his 
adherents, the kings of earth and the false prophet ; 
the result can no longer be doubted. The fore- 
runners of a general perturbation and overthrow 
of God-hating sovereignties appeared in the year 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 131 

1848; they caused all the thrones of Europe to 
totter, and most speedily drove the Pope, the "holy 
father of harlots/ 7 from his sacred apostolic chair. 
One blow more, the last, and " His Holiness and 
his whole kindred will be done for. 

" And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 
and their armies, gathered together, to make war 
against Him that sat on the horse, and against His 
army. And the beast was taken, and with him the 
false prophet that wrought miracles before him, 
with which he deceived them that had received the 
mark of the beast, and them that worship his image. 
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burn- 
ing with brimstone." Rev. xix. 19, 20. 

" Alas, alas ! that great city Babylon, that mighty 
city ! for in one hour is thy judgment come." — 
Thus " the kings of the earth, who have committed 
fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall be- 
wail her, and lament for her, when they shall see 
the smoke of her burning." But the cry of the 
holy choirs of heaven will be : " Alleluia, Salva- 
tion, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the 
Lord our God : for true and righteous are His 
judgments; for He hath judged the great whore, 
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, 
and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her 
hand." "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye 
holy apostles and prophets ; for God hath avenged 
you on her." 

"AND THE KINGDOM AND DOMINION, AND THE 
GREATNESS OF THE KINGDOM UNDER THE WHOLE 



132 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

HEAVEN, SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE 
SAINTS OF THE MOST HlGH, WHOSE KINGDOM IS AN 
EVERLASTING KINGDOM, AND ALL DOMINIONS SHALL 

serve and obey him. Hitherto is the end of the 

matter." Dan. vii. 27, 28. 

+ 

+ 



SECTION III. 



The Vision of the Ram with two Horns, and 
He-Goat, with one great Horn. Dan. viii. 
The prophet saw this vision in the third year cf 
King Belshazzar, being at Shushan in the palace, 
in the province of Elam, by the river Ulai. He 
saw a ram with two horns, pushing westward, and 
northward, and southward. Then he saw a he-goat 
with one great horn, which smote the ram and 
brake both his horns. But when the he-goat wax- 
€d very great, his great horn was broken, and for it 
came up four notable ones, toward the four winds 
of heaven ; and out of one of them came forth a 
little horn, which waxed exceeding great, even to 
the host of heaven, and to the Prince of the host. 
It became so powerful that it trod down some of 
the host, that the place of the sanctuary was cast 
down and the daily sacrifice taken away, until two 
thousand and three hundred days, that is, so many 
years were completed. 

Daniel did not understand this vision ; but the 
angel Gabriel explained it to him, and said: "Be- 
hold, I will make thee known, what shall be in the 
last end of the indignation: for at the time ap- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 33 

pointed the end shall be. The ram which thou 
sawest having two horns are the kings of Media 
and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of 
Grecia : and the great horn that is between his 
eyes is the first king. Now that being broken, 
whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall 
stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. — 
And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the 
transgressors are come to the fall, a king of fierce 
countenance, and understanding dark sentences, 
shall stand up. And his po:ver shall be mighty, 
but not by his own power : and he shall destroy 
wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and 
shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And 
through his policy also he shall cause craft to pros- 
per in his hand ; and he shall magnify himself in his 
heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall 
also stand up against the Prince of princes ; but 
he shall be broken without hand. And the vision 
of the evening and the morning which was told, is 
true : wherefore shut thou up the vision ; for it shall 
be for many days." Dan. viii. 19-26. 

The ram is the Medo-Persian kingdom under 
Ahasuerus. He pushed "westward, and south- 
ward, and northward." The pushing of the ram 
was against none but Daniel's people, the Jews; 
not against any other nation, for at that time there 
was peace in all the land. "No beasts might stand 
before him, nor was there any that could deliver 
out of his hand." v. 4. The pushing of the ram 
is also the beginning time of the vision, for the 



134 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

beginning was made by pushing; it can not have 
been before or afterwards but must have been just 
then. This pushing took place when the mandate 
went forth from king Ahasuerus, that on one day 
all the Jews in his whole kingdom should be killed. 
They were "dispersed among the people in all the 
provinces of his kingdom." Esther iii. 8. This 
was a violent pushing — a mandate of power, the like 
of which is scarcely found in the Roman empire. 

On the thirteenth day of the first month, which 
is the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king 
Ahasuerus, the command went forth, that upon the 
thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the 
month Adar, "all Jews, both young and old, little 
children and women," should be killed, and their 
spoil taken for a prey. Esther hi. 7-13. The 
thirteenth day of Nisan in the twelfth year of king 
Ahasuerus, fell upon Saturday, March 27 th, A. M. 
3700, and B V C. 426. This was the beginning of 
the vision, and as its entire period was 2300 years, 
it closed on the 27th of March, 1875. 

The he-goat is the Greek empire under Alexan- 
der the Great. He conquered the kingdom of the 
Medes and Persians, as well as others; but when he 
had reached his highest point, the great horn broke 
— Alexander died. His empire was divided into 
four parts, represented by the four horns. Out of 
one of these grew a little horn, which waxed ex- 
ceeding great, and reached to the host of the heav- 
en and to the Prince of the host, and took away 
the daily sacrifice. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 35 

Daniel did not understand this vision, but Ga- 
briel was commissioned to explain it to him. As 
he was anxious to understand what he had seen, 
and wondered much about it, but none understood 
it, v. 15-27, he betook himself to prayer, seeking 
consolation and counsel with God, ch. ix. His 
prayer was speedily answered; for he says: " Yea, 
while I was speaking in prayer, even the man Ga- 
briel, whom I had seen in the vision at the begin- 
ning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about 
the time of the evening oblation. And he informed 
me, and talked with me, and said: " O Daniel, I am 
now come forth to give thee skill and understand- 
ing. At the beginning of thy supplications the com- 
mandment came forth, and I am come to shew thee ; 
for thou art greatly beloved : therefore understand 
the matter, and consider the vision." v. 21-23. 

The following, therefore, must be an explanation 
of the vision, of the ram's pushing against Daniel's 
people, which meant their death and destruction, 
and of the king " of fierce countenance and under- 
standing dark sentences," who should "destroy 
wonderfully," together with the periods in which 
all this should come to pass. It can not mean 
anything else. The prophet saw that the pushing 
of the ram threatened death and destruction to his 
people 1 he saw Christ the Prince, together with 
His host, and the little horn treading this host un- 
der foot ; he saw that this treading down caused 
destruction in the host of Christ, and also that it 
was of long continuance. All this led him into 



136 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

deep meditation, and he found himself unable to- 
comprehend it all. Particularly important to him 
was the long period, during which the Prince of 
princes and His host should be persecuted. Ga- 
briel said to him : " The vision of the evening 
and the morning which was told, is true : Where- 
fore shut thou up the vision ; for it shall be for 
many days." 

"The vision of the evening and the morning " 
means a day ; for the evening and the morning 
were a day. Gen. i. 5. The time of 2,300 even- 
ings and mornings, or 2,300 days, is so many years, 
and comprises the entire period of the vision. 

+ 

+ 



SECTION IV. 



The little Horn growing out of the Greek 
Empire. 

The little horn of chapter seventh sprung from 
the Roman empire, after it was divided into ten 
parts ; but this of chapter eighth has grown out of 
the Greek empire. They therefore can not denote 
one and the same power, but must represent two 
separate powers. 

1. Its Origin. When the great horn of 
the he-goat was broken, "for it came up four nota- 
ble ones, toward the four winds of heaven ; and 
out of one of them came forth a little horn." — 
v. 8, 9. At the death of Alexander, the great 
Graeco-Macedonian empire was divided into four 
kingdoms; and from the people of one of these the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 137 

little horn was to come, "in the latter time of their 
kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the 
full," verse 23. 

Nearly all the expositors of Scripture are of the 
opinion that the Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes, 
must be her j intended. But the growth of this 
horn signifies a coming forth contrary to the gene- 
rally-established order of receiving a kingdom by 
inheritance. Antiochus did receive his kingdom as 
an inheritance, and did not, as a ruler, grow up in 
an unusual way. Neither does the period of its 
growing up suit for Antiochus Epiphanes ; for that 
was to be in the latter time, or according to the 
German version, " after these kingdoms" of which 
he was a king. Moreover, the vision shall be "at 
the time of the end," which time he did not live to 
see, for he died 164 years before Christ. Another 
ruling power must be represented thereby, that ap- 
peared much later, and came into existence by 
growing up of its own accord. Perhaps it is Mo- 
hammed. 

2. Its waxing 1 great. "It waxed ex- 
ceeding great, toward the south, and toward the 
east, and toward the pleasant land," v. 9. Toward 
the south — Egypt and Arabia; toward the east — 
Persia ; toward the pleasant land — Palestine. — 
Mohammed was an Arab, and these countries, 
which had formerly been a part of the Greek em - 
pire, were first filled with his doctrine and subjected 
to him. His growing up and becoming great took 
9 



\$8 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

place in the countries and among the nations men- 
tioned in Daniel's vision. It is very probable, 
therefore, that the little horn finds its explanation 
in him. 

"And it waxed great, even to the host of heav- 
en ; and it cast down some of the host and of the 
stars to the ground, and stamped upon them" (trod 
them down). 

Mohammed was born in the year of Christ 570, 
or still earlier, as some think. In his fortieth year 
he began to teach Islam — "There is no God but 
Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet" — in his na- 
tive city Mecca, in Arabia. He was, however, 
persecuted for this, and was put in danger; there- 
fore he fled with but one of his friends, and hid 
himself three days in a cave. Thence he came to 
the city of Medina, where his doctine was already 
known, and whose inhabitants received him with 
cries of joy and exultation. This happened in 
July, A. D. 622. Here some seventy men united 
themselves with an oath, to stand by him, to defend 
him and his doctrine, and to obey him as their lead- 
er in everything, though it should cost them their 
lives. Their number increased daily. He now 
seized the sword, and vindicated his religion by 
force of arms. At first he made only predatory 
excursions, but soon his army increased ; he then 
overcame one Arabic tribe after another, took his 
native city Mecca by storm, and by his invasions 
made himself a terror to all neighboring countries. 
It was in the year 628 that he assumed the kingly 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 139 

and priestly dignity; and then for the first time he 
publicly declared his intention to introduce his re- 
ligion with an armed hand. Having thus assumed 
the kingly and priestly dignity, he was king, priest, 
and prophet in one. He even declared himself the 
only great prophet of God, and degraded Christ as 
being much less in dignity and power. Thus the 
little horn " magnified itself even to the Prince of 
the host," verse 1 1. Christ is the Prince of princes, 
the King of kings, and the only High Priest of 
God; His host is the pious on earth. Mohammed 
-claimed to be higher and greater than the Anointed 
of the Most High ; thus he stood up against Him 
and His host, the Christians, and trod them down. 
Thus "he waxed exceeding great, toward the 
south " — Egypt and Arabia; "toward the east" — 
Persia; "and toward the pleasant land" — Pal- 
estine. The people of these countries he overcame 
by force of arms, and compelled them to receive 
Islam, his doctrine. Whoever did not comply 
willingly, had to feel his power. For many years 
no Christian dared to appear in Jerusalem, the 
•capital of Christendom, without risking his life. 

After the death of Mohammed his followers not 
only completed the conquest of the countries 
named, but they also conquered Phenicia, Meso- 
potamia, Armenia, and the whole vast Syrian and 
Persian empire, with extraordinary rapidity. Mo- 
hammed died A. D. 632, and in 637 all these coun- 
tries were subjected. They penetrated into eastern 
Asia, beyond .the river Gihon, as far as Samarcand. 



140 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Africa and the islands of Cyprus, Rhodes, Cilicia r 
and Lycia were overcome. Sardinia was conquer- 
ed in the year 711, and Spain in 713. A hundred 
years after the death of Mohammed they had pene- 
trated into France, and it appeared as if they would 
swallow up the entire Christianity • but the French 
king Charles Martel defeated them in a fearful 
battle near Torus, where three hundred and seventy 
thousand of these tormentors, together with their 
general, were left on the field. This happened ii> 
the year 734, and was the breaking down of the 
Saracen power. 

In 636 they conquered Damascus and Jerusa- 
lem; and in 637 already a mosque was built upor* 
the site of the Jewish temple. Within ten years 
(from 634 until 644) they conquered upwards of 
3000 cities, destroyed 4000 Christian churches, and 
built 14 temples or mosques for Islam. In a very 
short time the great empire of the Ottomans or 
Turks was gained over to Mohammedanism, and 
Christianity thereby pushed aside, destroyed, and 
hindered. On the 29th of May, 1453, the Turks 
took Constantinople by storm; thus the capital of 
the Oriental Christian empire fell into the hands of 
the Mohammedans, and its principal and most 
magnificent church, dedicated to Sophia or Wis- 
dom, was transformed into a mosque. 

Christianity had then degenerated everywhere., 
in the Eastern church as well as in the Western. — 
Both these capitals of Christendom, Jerusalem and* 
Constantinople, had sunk into iniquity and idola- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 141 

try, by falling from the truth and adopting new 
principles and doctrines contrary to the word of 
God. Thus the transgressors were "come to the 
■full" among the administrators and superiors of the 
' church, and the prophecy of verse 23 was fulfilled : 
"In the latter time of their kindgom, when the 
transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce 
countenance, and understanding dark sentences, 
shall stand up." In the ninth chapter of the Reve- 
lation of St. John this king is called Abaddon and 
Apollyon, which names signify "the destroyer."* 

But among those superiors and teachers of the 
church there still remained some true, pious and faith- 
-ful ones, who shone like bright stars. Of these stars, 
and others of the host of the Prince, some were 
cast down on the earth by this king, and trod under 
foot and subjected by him. Those truly pious 
teachers and Christians who would not accept Islam, 
had to "endure all the afflictions that a fanatical and 
wicked religious party could devise, from which 
they were often delivered by a violent death. 

" Yea, he magnified himself even to the Prince 
of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken 
away, and the place of His Sanctuary was cast 
down." 

"The Daily Sacrifice." These words 
are no correct translation of this passage, nor of 
any other in which they occur in our English and 
•German versions. They are an unfortunate inter- 
polation of the translators, who by this means have 
*Rev. xvi. 13 and xix. 20, he is called "the false prophet' 



142 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

caused a vast amount of displeasure and confusion* 
among the investigators of the Holy Scriptures. — 
Such insertions are by no means justifiable, and' 
can not be approved under any pretense. It is* 
wrong, especially in so significant a passage, to in- * 
sert words of which the original text knows nothing. 
All the critical expositors of the Scriptures that I 
have read, agree in saying, that the original expres- 
sion which is here translated "the daily sacrifice," 
signifies a continuance, constancy, or permanence. 
According to a literal translation, this text is more 
correctly rendered as follows : " And he lifted him- 
self unto the Prince of the host, and the continu- 
ance was taken from Him, and the seat of His- 
sanctuary was overthrown." According to this his: 
waxing great is a self- exaltation, effected by his 
own proper exertions and activity. Instead of 
" the daily sacrifice" a continuance, duration, or 
continuity is here spoken of; also an overthrow — 
casting down the seat of the sanctuary of the Prince 
of the heavenly host. Nothing whatever is said of 
a daily sacrifice of the Jews, nor of a sanctuary of 
the Jews, nor anything to which the daily sacrifice 
of the Jews can be applied. This continuance 
has no connection at all with sacrifices, though in.- 
deed with governments; for the entire vision treats 
of sovereignties, and not of sacrifices. If, how- 
ever, we use this word in the relation in which it 
stands, leaving it in connection with governments, 
it makes a natural sense — natural without restraint 
If it is said that this malicious king lifted him- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 43 

self unto the Prince of the heavenly host, which is 
Christ and His disciples in His Peaceful kingdom 
on earth, and took away the continuance or per- 
manence of this peaceful Christian rule, and we 
think of the terrible slaughter of Christians and 
the destruction of their churches, we already have 
the natural sense of this text : the continuance of 
this kingdom is checked. 

The entire vision treats of governments, showing 
how they successively arose, became great, and fell 
down; how, through lies and fraud, and selfishness, 
another government proceeds from them, which 
treads down and destroys the Messiah with His 
people and kingdom, and casts down and desolates 
the seat of His sanctuary, in abolishing the true 
worship and setting up a false one m its place. — 
This continuance, permanence, or continuity must 
therefore relate to ruling elements, and to nothing 
else. Jesus taught repentance, and said to His 
hearers: " Repent, for the kingdom (the reign) of 
God is come unto you." This peaceful reign of 
God on earth was destroyed, and its progress check- 
ed by the spirit of Antichrist, that employed Mo- 
hammedanism and Roman Catholicism as the 
means of doing so. Wherever God is adored in 
spirit and in truth, a sanctuary is set up; and if 
there be but two or three that thus worship God, 
Christ is in their midst. But whenever such true 
worshipers are destroyed and killed, when such a 
worship is publicly banished by force of arms, and 
a false one is established in its stead by the same 



144 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

power, the sanctuary of Christ is torn down, and 
an abomination of desolation set up in the holy 
place. This was done by both these little horns, 
the Papacy and Mohammedan, by the "man of 
sin" and the "false prophet." 

The spirit of Antichrist, "the god of this world" 
(2 Cor. iv. 4,) made use of these two powers, both 
of which were of a religious and civil nature, not 
merely to check true Christianity, but to exterminate 
it from the whole earth. In this, however, they 
did not succeed, though many millions of truly 
pious men were killed by them. The Roman hier- 
archy took Rome, the capital of the Western 
church, as its seat of government ; the Mohamme- 
dans took Constantinople, the capital of the East- 
ern church. In Rome the spirit of Antichrist has 
a "holy Father," in Constantinople "God's Chief 
Prophet," to administer his cause, that is, to carry 
out blasphemy. 

" How long shall be the vision concerning the 
daily sacrifice (better: "concerning the hinderance 
of the continuation of Christ's rule) and the trans- 
gression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and 
the host to be trodden under foot ?" The answei 
is : " Unto two thousand and three hundred days ; 
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed." (verse 13, 14.) 

As already said, those 2300 days, "reckoned 
from the evening toward the morning," stand for 
so many years ; they took their beginning with the 
pushing of the ram against Daniel's people, the 
Jews, in the month of March, A. M. 3700 and B. C. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 45 

426, and ended A. D. 1875. This is the period of 
the entire vision. After this period the time of the 
power that persecutes the Christians has expired, 
and the " transgression of desolation," — that is, the 
•establishment by force of arms, of a false worship, 
declaring it the only true one, and the destruction 
of the true worship, and declaring it false, — must 
•cease. This is the transgression that maketh de- 
solate, the sin by which the abomination of desola- 
tion is set up in the holy place. This transgression 
must end, because the power by which it was com- 
mitted, is abolished. Idolatry is the abomination 
of desolation, and when no longer sustained by 
civil laws, it falls down of itself, as soon as the light 
of the gospel illumines the nations. 

But here we should take particular notice, that 
when the period of time allotted to such God-hating 
powers has expired, the latter do not cease to exist 
all at once; for when the destiny of a hundred or 
more millions of men, lying bound under false sys- 
tems of religion, is concerned, such a transforma- 
tion can not be eftected by a single stroke. It .re- 
quires time and persevering patience on the part of 
the pious. So much, however, is certain that from 
this time forth an opposition to those powers will 
appear, an opposition that is from God, and will 
not cease until they are exterminated from the 
earth. Such, for example, has been the fate of the 
God-hating hierarchy of Rome. That sovereignty 
began in 606 ; the period of its power was 1260 
years, and ended in 1866. In those very years, 



I46 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

1866 and 1867, three of the greatest powers re- 
fused to recognize the Pope still longer as a worldly 
ruler, and suspended diplomatic intercourse with 
him. Shortly afterward the king of Italy took from 
him the city of Rome and the Papal State, which 
act was followed by the expulsion of the Jesuits 
from Prussia. This is an opposition from God, 
and will not cease until that power will be extir- 
pated from the earth, both in regard to civil and 
spiritual matters. It is strange, that both these 
secular ecclesiastical and Christ-persecuting powers 
began at almost the same time. The Mohamme- 
dan sovereignty appeared a little later than the 
Papacy, and the fullness of its power ended in 1875, 
also a little later than that of the Pope. 

Everybody knows that the Turks carried on war 
with some small provinces, especially with Sardinia,, 
from 1874 till 1876. In Sardinia they mercilessly 
slaughtered the children of Christian families to- 
gether with their parents, following their old customs 
and instincts without restraint ; but they soon found 
opposition on the part of strong powers. They 
were told that this murdering would not be toler- 
ated. Those ruling powers held a conference in 
which the subject was considered; the Turkish gov- 
ernment was informed that it had to cease slaught- 
ering Christians, and security was demanded that 
the injunction would be faithfully obeyed. As 
it would not and could not do this, Russia de- 
clared war against it; and as the sole cause of this 
declaration the fact was pointed out that Turkey 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 47 

still persisted in persecuting the Christians, and 
would not stop. Undoubtedly this resistance came 
from God, and again just at the right time. What 
will be the result of this war, can not yet be told 
to-day, the ioth of September, 1877; but if we 
yield to the supposition that it will tend to the 
promotion of Christianity and the abolition of this 
God- hating power, we may not be greatly deceived.* 

The Almighty is sitting in judgment with these 
wicked sovereignties, that tread under foot His host 
and sanctuary, and disperses His saints, Dan, vii. 
10-22. How long this judgment will continue, we 
are not told. But it is a judgment for the saints 
of the Most High, ch. viii. 22, and after it "the 
sanctuary shall be cleansed," and "the saints of the 
High Most shall take the kingdom, and possess the 
kingdom forever and ever," vii. 18. 

The right of ruling on earth must be given into 
the hands of the Christians, after it has been in the 
hands of the wicked for so many long years. — 
When the Lord shall have pronounced His judg- 
ment upon these powers (which, however, does not 
mean His last judgment) and banished them from 
the earth, His peaceful kingdom will continue un- 
disturbed and unchanged unto the end of the 
world. Thus the sanctuary will be cleansed, and 
the dispersion of the holy people put to an end. 

Gabriel's explanation of the vision of Daniel, in 
ch. viii. 23-25, is applicable without restraint to 

*The war did end upon the condition that Turkey 
should no longer persecute the Christians. 



148 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Islam and Mohammed, the false prophet. That 
" a king of fierce countenance and understanding 
dark sentences, shall stand up, when the trans- 
gressors are come to the full;" that "he shall be 
mighty, and destroy wonderfully, and prosper;" 
that "he shall destroy the mighty and the holy 
people, and through his policy cause craft to pros- 
per in his hand;" that "he shall destroy many, 
and even stand up against the Prince of princes '' 
— all this is applicable without restraint. But the 
sequel in verse 25 : "He shall be broken without 
hands,,' is not applied so readily. One can scarce- 
ly suppose that the Mohammedan power will be 
broken "without hand," that is, without human 
interference. If, however, we take for granted that 
this breaking refers to its false system of doctrine, 
the explanation becomes very easy. This false sys- 
tem will fall to pieces, as soon as the light of the gos- 
pel will shine upon it, and may then be broken with- 
out hand. God employs no compulsory measures. 

i 

SECTION V. 



Antichrist and the Abomination of Desolation. 
I. Antichrist. 
Antichrist is an evil, personally spiritual power, 
which from the beginning of the human family has 
proved itself hostile to God, which did and still 
does manifest itself in the external world by means 
and instruments which it employs to hinder and 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 49 

destroy the divine administration. In Paradise 
this power made use of a serpent; in later years it 
employed men. In both cases it appeared in words 
as the friend of God and man ; but it was the my- 
sterious depth of wickedness itself. St. John says : 
" Every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ 
is come in the flesh, is not of God; and this is the 
spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it 
should come ; and even now already is it in the 
world," 1 John iv. 3, and ch. ii. 22: "He is Anti- 
christ, that denieth the Father and the Son." Here 
"the spirit of Antichrist" and Antichrist himself, 
are spoken of. The spirit denies the coming of 
Christ into the flesh, and Antichrist himself, who is 
the same spirit, in his last appearance, will deny 
the Father and the Son. This is the Antichrist un- 
disguised, according to his personally spiritual power 
and nature, who denies the existence of God, and 
His willingness and power to save a world of fallen 
sinners through Christ; but the same spirit put on* 
the semblance of an angel of light, to attain his 
purposes 

1. Before the appearance of Christ in the ex- 
ternal world, in the flesh, no Antichrist could appear 
externally in this world; but right after Christ's ap- 
pearance in the flesh he appeared therein, in a 
disguised, hypocritical shape, through Herod, the 
infanticide and last king of the Jews. Scarcely 
had this Antichrist Herod learned from the wise 
men of the East, that Christ was now born, when 
the spirit of Antichrist kindled in his heart the 



150 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

desire to murder, to slay the new-born infant. — 
However, he concealed this murderous passion un- 
der a mask of piety and reverence toward Christ, 
the new-born king. Secretly he inquired of the 
wise men whatever he could, and then like a genuine 
antichrist he said: 4i Go and search diligently for 
the young child; and when ye have found him, 
bring me word again, that I may come and wor- 
ship Him also." To come and worship was his 
pretense ; but to come and murder was his purpose, 
as the slaughter of infants at Bethlehem proved. — 
" The object sanctifies the means" afterwards be- 
came a proverb under the antichristian Jesuitism. 

That was the first appearance of Antichrist in 
the outer world, in the form of a ruling element, a 
kingly power in the civil life of man. Since Christ 
came from heaven as Saviour of mankind and as 
their King and Ruler, to establish among us, through 
His appearance in the flesh, an element or divine 
government, administered by men, so Antichrist 
also, in the very beginning of Christ's incarnation, 
appeared in an element of government held by 
men, to prevent the divine rule of the Lord Jesus. 
Since that time he has appeared in different forms, 
though always in some ruling power of mankind ; 
and so he may be permitted to appear in future 
under still different shapes, until he shall be destroy- 
ed at the appearance of Christ on the last day. 

2. He is called "the prince of this world," in 
John xii. 31, and xiv. 30; he also is "the prince 
of the power of the air," in Eph. ii. 2. It was this 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 151 

same prince that Daniel saw in his vision, of whom 
he tells us that "he shall stand up against the 
Prince of princes," Dan. viii. 25. Peter told the 
Jews to their face that they had "killed the Prince 
of life, 7 ' Acts hi. 15; and Stephen told them that 
they had been His "betrayers and murderers, ,, ch. 
vii. 52. Thus Antichrist assailed the Prince of 
princes, and killed H^tl through the rulers, high- 
priests, and scribes of the Jews. When the state 
power, trying Him according to existing laws, found 
no cause of death in Him, the Jews said to Pilate : 
" We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, 
because he made himself the Son of God," John 
xix. 7. Incited by these rulers, who denied that 
Christ had appeared in the flesh, they were also 
impelled to cry out: "His blood be on us and on 
our children !" 

This is Antichrist in another form. It was a re- 
ligious power and tribunal that killed the Prince of 
life, not a kingly one, as the first had been. True, 
the sentence of this tribunal was executed by the 
civil authority of the Romans. 

3. Next Antichrist appeared as "the god of 
this worM," or "prince of this world," 2 Cor. iv. 4; 
John xii. 3 1, which means the ruler of the earth. — 
In Rev. xii. 3, 4, St. John describes his form as 
that of a great red dragon, having seven heads and 
ten horns, and a long tail; this refers to the imperi- 
al rule of pagan Rome, which presumed to dictate 
to all the world. Here the spirit of Antichrist 
crept into the heathen worship, approving it, and 



152 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

employing this vast idolatrous power in fighting 
against Ch r ist and His believers. Ten heavy and 
cruel persecutions of the Christians, inflicted by 
this heathenish power, prove to this day in what 
Satanic manner Antichrist murdered and destroyed 
the disciples of Christ by every conceivable form 
of torture. 

4. The prophet Daniel sa^w, upon the ten-horn- 
ed beast of the sea, a "little horn, before whom 
there were three of the first horns plucked up by 
the roots," ch. vii. 3, that is, three of the ten king- 
doms which arose from the western Roman empire. 
This little horn is the papal hierarchy of Rome. — 
When the idolatrous power of paganism was abol-^ 
ished by Constantine during the period between the 
years 320 and ^^^, and Christianity introduced 
throughout the empire as the state-religion, the 
spirit of Antichrist plainly saw that he could no- 
longer accomplish anything by the heathen wor- 
ship; power was wanting. So it came to pass that 
he crept into Christianity, and became a Christian; 
but " though the foxes lose their hair, they do not 
lose their tricks." Thus "that man of sin, the son 
of perdition," was revealed in the Papacy; and 
thus he "who opposeth and exalteth himself above 
all that is called God or that is worshiped, sitteth 
in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is- 
God," 2 Thess. ii. 2-6. Antichrist now is Christ's 
vicegerent on earth, infallible like God himself. — 
And who else is meant than "His Holiness" the 
Pope, possessed by the spirit of Antichrist? In* 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 53 

this form he has reached the extreme of hypocrisy, 
and murdered more Christians than in any other. 
He confesses the Father and the Son with the 
mouth, but not with his works ; and therein con- 
sists the depth of iniquity. 

5. Bat this spirit of Antichrist also appears in 
the Mohammedan sovereignty • for he employs this 
power also in oppressing Christianity. By means 
of this power he caused great devastations in the 
Eastern church, as he hal done in the Western 
through the Papacy. 

The Mohammedan doctrine, Islam, is a genuine 
antichristian production; for, though God is not 
denied thereby, Christ is degraded belo v Moham- 
med, and thus true Christianity is rejected. How 
ever, this is not yet the power, in which Antichrist 
will appear at his last coming, and in which he will 
be overcome and destroyed at the advent of Jesus 
Christ. It is strange that both these powers of 
evil used divine worship as a pretense for persecut- 
ing the Christians, and that one ravaged the West- 
ern church, the other the Eastern. It is strange, 
also, that both arose at almost the same time, and 
both are noted by the prophet Daniel under the 
figure of a little horn, in ch. vii. 8 and ch. viii. 9-10. 

In the new Testament Mohammed is called king 
of an army of locusts, "an angel of the bottomless 
pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abad- 
don." Rev. ix. 1 1. He is also called " the false 
prophet," in ch. xvi. 13 and ch. xx. 10. Moham- 
10 



154 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

medanism is a kingly priesthood, or a secular and 
spiritual power, as well as the Papacy; and its fol- 
lowers were competent assistants and associates of 
Antichrist, partaking of the Devil's internal nature, 
which they manifested in outward violence, in de- 
stroying the children of God and His worship. 

In all these appearances divine worship was made 
the cloak of the greatest abominations on earth. — 
To judge by outward professions, no entire denial 
of God on the part of Antichrist was known; but 
by his interior being, which appeared in outward 
acts, nothing but a purely satanic and God- denying 
power could be perceived. However as it is said : 
"He is Antichrist, that denieth the Father and the 
Son," it becomes necessary to look around for 
another public form; for Antichrist undisguised 
must deny the Father and the Son. 

6. In the years 1789 to 1795, at the time of the 
French revolution, the mad republic of France on 
the 7th of November, 1793, declared God deposed, 
and the Christian religion abolished. Thenceforth 
only the deity of Reason was to be worshiped. — 
Here then we have Antichrist in his undisguised 
form : he denies the Father and the Son, and adores 
Reason only, or himself, as God. 

Probably the spirit of Antichrist saw that he could 
not endure much longer, sitting in the temple in 
the form of God ; therefore he ventured to appear 
in his unmasked and real form, and to banish the 
belief in the existence of the Almighty from the 
minds of men. The fruit of this pitiful insolence 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 155 

•was revealed in the merciless slaughter of thousands 
of innocent people by the guillotine, which was 
called k 'the holy mother/' However, this power 
soon yielded; on the 7th of May, 1794, the Su- 
preme Being was reinstated by a public decree ; so 
that Antichrist was left sitting in the temple, in the 
form of God. In this form, according to 2 Thess. 
ii. 8, "the Lord shall consume him with the spirit 
of His mouth." The Pope has fallen already, 
though not yet so completely as he shortly must fall. 
7. After the millennium Antichrist will once 
more make his appearance, under the name of " Gog 
and Magog," Rev. xx. 8. In what form he will ap- 
pear then, is unknown to us now; but it seems 
probable that he will put on his undisguised shape, 
and come forth, with his host, as a public and bare- 
faced denier of God. In this his final appearance 
the Lord Jesus Christ " shall destroy him with the 
brightness of His coming. ,, 2 Thess. ii. 8. Even 
so, come, Lord Jesus ! Amen. 

II. The Abomination of Desolation. 

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of 
xlesolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand 
in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him under- 
stand)." Matt. xxiv. 15. 

This passage of Scripture is fraught with deep 
significance, as is sufficiently proved by the exhor- 
tation of the Lord Jesus: "Whoso readeth, let 
iiim understand." 

The word abomination presents to us something 



156 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

horrrible and frightful. Here a particular abomina- 
tion is spoken of — that which the prophet Daniel' 
foretold; it is called the "abomination of desola- 
tion," which terms signify an act of atrocious and 
shocking violence, that consists in destruction and 
desolation. In God's word the sacrifices offered 
unto idols and their worship are called abomina- 
tions, Isaiah xliv. 19, and abominable things, Jer. 
xvi. 18. In like manner the doctrine and actions 
of the false church, presented under the image of 
a lascivious woman, are designated as abomiations; 
and she herself is declared the "mother of harlots 
and abominations of the earth" Rev. xvii. 4, 5. 

This abomination of desolation standing in the 
holy place where it ought not (Mark xiii. 14), must 
consist in acts of violence and outrage, by which 
the true worship of God is suppressed, and a false 
one cherished and sustained. It is not likely that 
anything else is meant thereby, and holding fast tx> 
this view, we proceed. 

It is the general opinion of the Protestant church, 
that this desolating abomination was the Roman 
army, with the eagle upon its banners,, and the im- 
perial breast- plates, to which divine honors wei e 
paid; and that it appeared in the holy place when, 
at the destruction of Jerusalem, the army, together 
with its idols, was stationed there, and the Jews 
and their ceremonial worship were cleared away. 
But this is a striking error, and one can not help- 
wondering that so great an error has been so gen- 
erally received and maintained. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 5 7 

i. It must be remembered that the king who 
"shall stand up against the Prince of princes, and 
destroy wonderfully," Daniel viii. 23-25, is not a 
secular king, and that his destroying does not con- 
sist in burning houses and cities ; but that he is 
the " prince of this world," the spirit of Antichrist, 
and his desolation is that of the church and of divine 
worship. True, an ecclesiastical and internal deso- 
lation also affects the outer life, and there shows its 
ravaging character. 

2. It was not the Romans that destroyed Jeru- 
salem and the temple, but the Jews themselves by 
their stubborn resistance to divine and human au- 
thority. r J he Romans wished to spare the city and 
the temple; but the Jews, spurred to destruction by 
the invisible power of the spirit that denies Christ, 
Tather would see both destroyed ; and it was they 
who for this purpose applied the torch with their 
own hands. Read Josephus on this point. In Bk. 
v., ch. 10, par. 6, he says : " It was they (the Jews) 
who brought the city to ruin, but they compelled 
the Romans to lend their name to a sorrowful vic- 
tory; they dragged the lingering fire into the temple, 
as it were. Quietly, without grief, without tears, 
they looked out from the upper town to see it burn- 
ing." In Bk. vi., ch. 2, par. 9, he says: "They 
(the Jews) burned down the north-western part of 
the portico (of the temple), which adjoined An- 
tonia; in addition they broke down all but twenty 
ells of the length thereof, and with their own hands 
carried the torch toward the sanctuary. On the 



\ 



158 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

second day following the Romans fired the next 
hall; when the fire had spread to a distance of fif- 
teen ells around, the Jews thrust down the roof. — 
Yet, far from wishing to check the flames by this r 
they proceeded to destroy everything from there to 
Antonia, though they could have arrested the burn- 
ing." In the fourth paragraph of the same book 
and chapter, Titus, the chief commander of the 
entire Roman army, speaks to the Jews as follows: 
" How then, can ye yourselves crush dead bodies- 
in this sanctuary? How can ye pollute the temple 
with your own and strangers' blood ? I take the 
gods of my country, I take that Superior Being 
which once looked down upon this place — for now r 
I believe, it does so no longer — I take my army 
and the Jews about me, as witnesses, to prove to- 
you that it is not I that compels you to such abom- 
inations. As soon as you choose another place of 
battle, no Roman will enter the sanctuary, much 
less deride it. I will save your sanctuary, even if 
ye yourselves do not wish it." Were not the Jews r 
then the destroyers of their own city and temple? 

3. The temple of the Jews was neither a holy- 
place, nor their worship consecrated to God, at that 
time; for they had long before made their temple 
a den of thieves, and their worship a service of 
men's traditions, Luke xix. 46 ; Matt xv. 1-7. 

4. The Jews always resisted the Holy Ghost r 
Acts vii. 51, and gave themselves up to the prince 
of this world, the spirit of Antichrist, which denies* 
that Christ came into the world. Impelled by the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 5 Qt 

power of this spirit, they slew the children of Beth- 
lehem, beheaded John the Baptist, crucified the 
Lord Jesus, reviled the out -pouring of the Holy 
Spirit, stoned Stephen, killed the apostles of God. 
despised the call of the gospel, and to fill the mea- 
sure of their wickedness, finally rebelled against the 
government that had authority over them. 

Who, after all this, will still say that this people's 
place of worship was a holy place ? And who can 
still believe that the Romans defiled their sanc- 
tuary, and introduced the abomination of desola- 
tion ? Had not this abomination long before pene 
trated into the interior of their typical services. — 
Their sacrifices were ordained by God, to continue 
as such till the coming of Christ, but no longer. — - 
They, therefore, were holy functions, performed in 
a holy place ; but as soon as the Jews had killed 
the Prince of life, (Acts iii. 15), and become His 
betrayers and murderers, (ch. vii. 52), the abomina- 
tion of desolation had entered their ceremonial 
service and the place thereof; for the sacrifices no 
longer could be offered according to God's regula- 
tion and pleasure, but according to man's will and 
in defiance of the Lord. In this manner a false 
worship took the place of the true ; for by this 
means alone the " place of His sanctuary " may be 
cast down Daniel viii. 10, 11. "Whoso readeth, 
let him understand." 

But, as already said, an internal or moral desola- 
tion always brings to view an external one; the 
latter is a sign of the former. So it is here, and 



l6o AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

the Lord directs the attention of His disciples to 
the outward sign, which shall precede the external 
distinction. What is this external sign ? It is an 
army of soldiers, which the prince of this world or- 
ganizes among his adherents, to carry out actions 
that are contrary to divine and human order, by 
force of arms. This was foretold by the prophet 
Daniel, ch. ix. 26 and xi. 31; and Christ says, in 
Luke xxi. 20: "And when ye shall see Jerusalem 
compassed with armies, then know ye that the de- 
solation thereof is nigh." Here, however, not the 
Roman army is meant, but the rebellious host of 
the Jews, which was called forth by their antichris- 
tian spirit, and completed the destruction of Jeru- 
salem, though this was partly accomplished by the 
hand of the Romans. Thus their city was deso- 
lated, and an abomination of desolation set up. — 
Set up, I say, for it is said, in Matt. xxiv. 15, that 
it shall " stand in the holy place," and in Mark xiii. 
14, that it is "standing where it ought not." It 
stands therefore, and must have been set up. In 
Daniel ix. 27, it is said: For the overspreading of 
abominations he shall make it desolate," or, ac- 
cording to the German version : " And by the wings 
shall stand the abomination of desolation." I can 
not see what may result from the burning of a city 
and temple but a falling down, and falling is not 
standing. It means nothing else than an anti- 
christian worship, which is set up and sustained by 
the prince of this world through the power of hu- 
man arms. The beginning thereof was made by 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. l6l 

the Jews, actuated by the true spirit of Judaism; 
but after the Christian religion had for a few hund- 
red years passed through a series of bloody and 
horrible persecutions, an imperial decree in the 
year 533 placed its form of worship under the su- 
pervision of a single man, and under imperial laws, 
which were preferred to the word of God. Thus 
the abomination of desolation entered the holy 
place of the Christian religion through man's tradi- 
tions, and is retained to this day in the papal church. 
Now, it would indeed greatly perplex me, to see 
how this abomination of desolation, standing or 
stationed in the holy place, could have consisted in 
the burning and falling down of a city and temple, 
if I did not know that we have adopted an " or- 
thodoxy," which, without further ceremony, we re- 
gard as correct, and in consequence often neglect 
the accurate investigation of the Scriptures for 
ourselves. 



CHAPTER FOURTH. 

4- 

+ 

SECTION I. 



Daniel's Seventy Weeks, Ch. ix. 24-27. 

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, 
and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, 
and to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation 
for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteous- 
ness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and 
to anoint the Most Holy. 

"Know therefore and understand, that from the 
going forth of the commandment to restore and to 
build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince, shall 
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: 
the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in 
troublous times. 

" After threescore and two weeks shall Messiah 
be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of 
the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and 
the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a 
flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are 
determined. 

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many 
for a week: and in the midst of the week he shall 
cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and 
for the overspreading Gf abominations he shall make 
It desolate, even until the consummation, and 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 63 

that determined shall be poured upon the earth." 
In this part of chapter ninth, the angel Gabriel 
gives to the prophet information concerning only 
his people, the Jews. In ch. xi. and xii., the ex- 
planation of the vision is continued; consequently 
that part which is intended for the Jewish people, 
is contained herein, while the rest, which relates 
more to the world in general, is to be found in what 
follows. What is said in this explanation by the 
angel, is to be considered the key to the whole 
vision. But, inasmuch as the vision "shall be at 
the time of the end," ch. viii. 17, it remained shut 
up even to our day ; hence it was that, notwith- 
standing so many learned explanations, the true 
state of things was elucidated in only a very small 
degree. "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, 
and seal the book, even to the time of the end : 
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
increased," ch. xii. 4. With the assurance that it is 
to remain sealed only "to the time of the end," we 
may now venture to look deeper and more thor- 
oughly into these prophetic writings than has hither- 
to been done. 

Before we enter upon a closer contemplation, it 
will be necessary to observe two points. Two rul- 
ing powers, the power of Christ and that of the 
prince of darkness, are here spoken of; likewise 
two hosts, two sanctuaries, and two covenants. — 
These princes, ruling elements, sanctuaries, hosts and 
covenants must not be confounded with each other. 
" This is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have 



164 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

heard that it should come ; and even now already 
is it in the world," 1 John iv. 3. This spirit of 
Antichrist, also called the prince of darkness, has 
a covenant and a host, with which he rules mankind 
on earth. All transgressors and rebels against God 
belong to his covenant and to his host. He also 
has a sanctuary, a form of worship, which, however, 
is false 2nd deceitful, and really an abomination 
unto God. With those allies he rules in the pro- 
vince of religion and of civil government. 

But the Prince of princes, the Messiah, also has 
a host, a chosen people, allied to him by a covenant 
of peace and grace, made already with Abraham. 
To this alliance belong all the pious. They are 
u a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy 
nation." Of them He forms His sanctuary, with 
them is His worship. "I will dwell in them, and 
walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they 
shall be my people," 2 Cor. vi. 16. For this very 
reason they are "the temple of the living God," the 
place of His sanctuary. With this people of His 
covenant He has established a kingdom on earth — 
a reign of love and peace. Keeping these two 
things in view, we proceed. 

" Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, 
and upon thy holy city." 

Seventy weeks form a period of 490 days, which 
are here equivalent to 490 years. This is the por- 
tion of time cut off from the 2300 years, the entire 
period of the vision, and granted as a respite to the 
Jewish people. Daniel saw that by the pushing of 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 165 

the ram his people were threatened with death and 
destruction, and that they were without hope of 
assistance because the ram was too strong, and 
there was none that could deliver out of his hand. 
Now the angel informs him that his people should 
not perish at that time but from that period they 
should have a respite of 490 years, awaiting either 
their reformation or the entire completion of their 
transgressions. This respite also was necessary 
because the Messiah was to come out of the Jew- 
ish nation, and so they had to be preserved as a 
people, until He should be born, and anointed to 
His high-priestly office by the Holy Ghost. Those 
seventy weeks began with the ram's pushing against 
Daniel's people, or the command of king Ahasue- 
rus, that all the Jews in his whole kingdom should 
be killed.* 

" To Finish the Transgression "— 
to bring to its full maturity the national sin of the 
Jews, their apostacy and rebellion against God; to 
nil the measure of their transgression; "to stay 
their transgression," according to the German ver- 
sion. How does the Lord stay sin and transgres- 
sion, when its measure is full? When Israel and 
Judah had sunk into idolatry, and would not aban- 
don it, but persisted in their lewdness, the punish- 
ment came. It was said: "Thus saith the Lord 
God: I will bring up a company upon them (Sa- 

*This command was given the lath day of the first 
month, that is, the month Nisan, cr March 27, B. C 426. 
Esther iii. 12. 



1 66 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

raaria and Jerusalem) to be removed and spoiled. 
And the company shall stone them with stones, and 
despatch them with their swords: they shall slay 
their sons and their daughters, and burn up their 
houses with fire. Thus will I cause lewdness to 
cease out of the land," Ezek. xxiii. 46-48. It is 
thus the Lord makes an end of sin, when its mea- 
sure is full; and such was the fate of Jerusalem. — 
He says, further, in ch. xxi. 25: "And thou, pro- 
fane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, 
when iniquity shall have no end." 

"To Make an End of Sin/' Accord- 
ing to the German: "to seal up sin." When any- 
thing is brought to an end or completed, the seal 
is set upon it. The sense of both translations is 
the same. God will make an end of the matter by 
His punishments. 

" To Make Reconciliation for Ini- 
quity " — to effect reconciliation thereof, to make 
compensation therefor. According to the original 
text, "to cover iniquity," that is, to remove it from 
sight. 

" To Bring* in Everlasting* Right- 
eousness," everlasting-primeval ; righteousness 
— jurisdiction: hence, God's jurisdiction brought 
down from antiquity. According to God's strict 
justice the Jews, as a nation, might have been ex- 
terminated long before; but now His anciently- 
established right of pronouncing judgment upon 
them according to His eternal justice, is brought 
forth. Ancient, eternal jurisdiction and justice are 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 167 

now brought to settle an account, which has stood 
open for a long time without satisfaction being given. 

" To Seal up the Vision and Pro- 
phecy " to perform whatever the prophets fore- 
told concerning the disobedience of the Jewish 
people, and by the execution of punishment to seal 
up and confirm the same. 

" To Anoint the 31ost Holy." Ac 
cording to the Scriptures Christ was to be born from 
the tribe of Judah ; consequently the Jewish people 
as such had to be preserved unto the fullness of 
time; and therefore He came in this last period, 
and at His baptism was publicly anointed by the 
Holy Spirit as King, Priest, and Prophet. This 
Anointed came unto His own, and taught the peo- 
ple ; He performed many miracles, and healed their 
diseases and infirmities. But the Jews despised 
His teaching, derided His miracles as the doings of 
Satan, killed the Prince of life, reviled the outpour- 
ing of the Holy Ghost, stoned Stephen, slew the 
apostles of the Lord, and at the last filled the mea- 
sure of their wickedness by rebelling against the or- 
der of God and the Roman government, which had 
authority over them. Their measure of sin was full, 
the time of taking account had arrived, and their 
490 years of respite came to an end A. D. 65, when 
the war with the Romans began. 

But the Seventy Weeks are also deter- 
mined upon Daniel's holy city, that is, upon Jeru- 
salem, together with the temple and its worship. — 
In verse 25, it is said: "And the people of the 



1 68 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the 
sanctuary." Dr. L. Tafel translates thus : " And 
the people of the prince, which is coming, shall 
spoil the city and the sanctuary." The city and 
the temple, as the holy place of general worship 
for the Jews, together with their sacrificial service, 
shall be destroyed by "a people which is coming," 
or which was then yet in the future. Who were 
this princely people? History tells us that the par- 
ty of zealots, who were the most stubborn oppo- 
nents to Christianity among the Jews, armed them- 
selves, and garrisoned Jerusalem and the fortress- 
of the temple, thus standing up against the Roman 
sovereignty, which had control over the whole of 
Palestine. They became rebels against the right- 
eous government, and were commanded by it to 
lay down their arms. This they refused to do. — 
The Romans would destroy neither the city nor the 
temple, but were compelled to do so, in order to 
effect their purpose. The Jews themselves were 
the real cause of the destruction of their cicy and 
temple, the place of their general sacrifice, as well 
as of their nation, though the destruction was car- 
ried out by the Roman government. No other 
than the prince of darkness, the spirit of Antichrist r 
could incite the Jews to such actions ; consequent- 
ly, this prince was the chief agent. However, this 
destruction of the sanctuary, does not refjr to a 
spiritual or divine sanctuary, but to a literal one — 
that of the Jews in the temple, whose destruction 
was accomplished by the Roman troops. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. l6tj 

" The end thereof shall he with a 
flood. " Such was the end of Jerusalem, as if a 
flood had swept away everything. It was all made 
even with the ground; all buildings, together with 
the temple and the city-walls were torn down, and 
every combustible thing was burned. 

46 He shall confirm the covenant 
with many for a week." It is believed 
that Christ, the Prince of life, confirmed His cove- 
nant with many of His disciples during the seven 
years' w r ar ; but that is quite out of question here. 
This sentence refers to the prince of darkness, the 
spirit of Antichrist, whose people destroyed Jeru- 
salem, and w r hose covenant was with the rebellious 
Jews, to rise against the order of God and human 
authority, by which rebellion the war was caused. 
With these insurgents he strengthened his covenant, 
so that they would rather see everything destroyed, 
and sacrifice their own lives, than desisc from re- 
bellion. These his allies he sustained "for a week,"' 
or seven years, to continue their bloody struggle.— 
No covenant of grace can be spoken of here, though 
indeed a covenant of curses, like those pronounced 
on Mount Ebal. Deut. xxvii. 13-26. There the 
Lord made a covenant with Israel, in which mani- 
fold blessings were promised for obedience ; but for 
disobedience they were threatened with a twelvefold 
curse. That was a covenant of blessings and of 
curses. By obedience to the Lord it is confirmed 
and strengthened toward blessings and prosperity^ 
11 



170 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

by disobedience and rebellion against God it is con- 
firmed as a curse and a punishment. For a week 
or seven years, as long as the war lasted, it was 
confirmed by constant rebellion against God and 
His order, bringing on the curse and ruin of the 
whole Jewish nation. 

"And in the midst of the Week 
he shall cause the sacrifice and the 
oblation to cease." "In the midst of the 
week" — better: in the half of the week. The sac- 
rifices of the Jews and their services ceased on Sun- 
day, July 15th, A. D. 70; the temple was burned 
on the 9th of August in the same year. All this 
happened in the latter half of the week. 

The expressions: "Unto the end of the war de- 
solations are determined," (v. 26), and "for the 
overspreading of abominations he shall make it de- 
solate, even until the consummation, and that deter- 
mined shall be poured upon the desolate," (v. 27) 
— refer to the extension of the false worship, under 
the spirit of Antichrist, to the conflict between the 
false worship and the true, and between Christ, the 
Prince of life, and the prince of darkness. So long 
as the powers, employed by the spirit of Antichrist 
to make war against Christ and His people, are not 
overcome, and the contest is not at an end, so long 
the desolation shall remain ; so long that determined 
shall be poured upon Jerusalem. 

It is strange that our expositors of the Scriptures 
can consider the temple and the Jewish sacrifice as 
the sanctuary of God. These sacrifices and the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 7 I 

•place dedicated to them among the Jews, were not 
holy in and for themselves. They were but typi- 
cally holy until Christ. As soon as the true and 
real sacrifice, Christ himself, was offered, the typi- 
cal sacrifices came to an end. From that time forth 
they were no longer even typically holy; neither 
the temple nor the offerings were so, for the real 
sanctuary had appeared, and the types had an end. 
Thenceforth their sacrifices could only be offered 
contrary to the order of God, and their temple be 
a desecrated place, which they had long before 
changed into a "den of thieves." 

It is striking to observe how accurately History 
corresponds to the seventy weeks allotted as a re- 
spite to the Jews. As already said, those 70 weeks 
or 490 years are a portion of the 2300 years which 
comprise the entire period of Daniel's vision, and 
began on the thirteenth of the first Jewish month, 
in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, (Esther iii. 
7-12), when the command went forth that all the 
Jews should be killed, A. M. 3700, or the 27th of 
March, 426 B. C. Counting 490 years forward, 
we come to the 27th of March, A. D. 65, which is 
the end of the respite granted to the Jews. At this 
very time, during the feast of the passover, the heavy 
eastern gate of the inner temple was seen at mid- 
night to open of itself. The spontaneous opening 
of this gate was explained by the learned as a sign 
that the impregnability of the temple was gone by, 
that its gate was opened to the enemy, and its deso- 
lation announced. (Jos., Jewish Wars, Bk. vi., ch. 5.) 



172 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

By this spontaneous opening of the inner temple- 
gate the Lord declared to them that they were 
left to themselves, and that His holy protection 
had departed from them. The pharisaical party of 
zealots, or priestly hierarchy, refused to be subject 
to the Romans; they armed themselves, and took 
possession of the fortress of the temple. This, in 
a few weeks, by the nth of May, A. D. 65, brought 
on the war in all its ruthless severity. It ended. 
March 24, 72, having continued seven years, which 
comprise the time of confirming the covenant. — 
Everything was fulfilled almost to the day. 

Thus the seventy weeks of respite began on the 
27th of March, 426 years before Christ, and end- 
ed on the 27th cf March, 65 years after Christ. — • 
The time of grace had expired; the one week or 
seven years of judgment and punishment began, 
and closed on the 24th of March, A. D. 72, putting 
an end to the holy city, to the sacrifices and cere- 
monies of the Jews, and together with all this, to 
their nationality forever. 

+ 



SECTION 7 II. 



Seven Weeks and Threescore and Two Weeks. 

"Know therefore and understand, that from the 
going forth of the commandment to restore and to 
build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall 
be seven weeks, an i threescore and two weeks- 
Daniel ix. 25. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 7$ 

These seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, put to- 
gether, form a period by themselves, and are not to 
be confounded with the seventy weeks spoken of 
before. They are a period of 483 years, and deter- 
mine the coming of Christ into the flesh. Their 
beginning is fixed at the time when the command 
went forth, that Jerusalem should be rebuilt. The 
62 w r eeks apart from the seven weeks form another 
separate period, of 434 years, beginning with the 
completion of the wall of Jerusalem, and deter- 
mining the time from that event unto the death of 
Christ. It is very important to consider each of 
these periods separately, and to guard carefully 
against interchanging them; for the beginning and 
end of each, and consequently, its own special ap- 
plication, is distinctly stated. 

The chief cause of so many contradictions, and 
we may say, such a general confusion among chro- 
nologers, in regard to the times stated by Danie 1 , 
lies in a great measure in the fact, that these periods 
are confounded with each othe r , even against the 
nature of the connection evidently belonging and 
assigned to each. The object in view can only be 
attained by an unconstrained treatement of these 
periods. 

This period of 7 weeks and 62 weeks, or 483 
years, beginning with the time when the command 
went forth that the Israelites should return frpm 
their captivity in Babylon to their own country, to 
rebuild the city of Jerusalem, is the exact time until 
the appearance of Christ in the flesh. All that is 



I 74 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

necessary to be quite sure about this, is to deter- 
mine which command was the right one, and ta 
know positively that it is the one here intended. — 
Having this certainty, we must know also the exact 
time at which that command was issued. 

This command we can know and state positively 
and accurately; for the word of God has made it 
all plain and clear, and even called by his name the 
king who had to give it. The question then is: — 
From whom was this command to go forth ? I ans- 
wer: From Cyrus, the Persian king; for the Lord 
had destined him thereto, and foretold it through 
His prophets more than a hundred years before he 
was born, as when He spake through Isaiah, ch., 
xliv. 28: "That saith of Cyrus, He is my shep- 
herd, and shall perform all my pleasure ; even saying 
to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built ; and to the tem- 
ple, Thy foundation shall be laid." In ch. xlv. 13. 
He says: " He (Cyrus) shall build my city, and he 
shall let go my captives." 

The second question is : Did Cyrus do this ? — - 
Answer : He did. In the book of Ezra, ch. i. 1-3^ 
is is said: "Now, in the first year of Cyrus, king 
of Persia (that the w r ord of the Lord by the mouth 
of Jeremiah might be fulfilled), the Lord stirred up 
the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a 
proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put 
it also in writing, saying: Thus saith Cyrus, king 
of Persia: The Lord God of heaven hath given 
me all the kingdoms of the earth ; and He hath 
charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 75 

which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all" 
His people? His God be with him, and let him go 
up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the- 
house of the Lord God of Israel (He is the God>, 
which is in Jerusalem. " 

Now let us see what Josephus has to say in re- 
gard to this history. He says, in Book xi. of the 
Old Jewish Wars, ch. i. : "When Cyrus became 
acquainted with the prophecies of Isaiah, he con- 
ceived a strong desire to bring about their fulfilment. 
He therefore called the principal men of the Jews 
together in Babylon, and told them that he gave 
them permission to return to their native country., 
and there to build up the city of Jerusalem and the 
temple of God. He said further: 'I have given 
permission to the Jews in my land, to as many as- 
are willing to return to their own country, to restore 
the city, and to rebuild the temple of God at Jeru- 
salem upon the spot where it stood before.' " That 
Cyrus was the man who gave this command, and 
the only one who could give it, is thus proved by 
the unerring word of God, as well as by History. 

When did this command go forth ? On the tenth 
day of the fifth month, Ab. According to Wm. 
C. Thurman's Biblical Chronology, which I make 
use of here, it was the 15th of August, B. C. 488, 
and A. M. 3638, and the very day on which the 
seventy years' captivity of the children of Israel 
had an end. The day on which that captivity end- 
ed, must have been that on which the command 
went forth ; for Cyrus refers to the prophecy of Jere- 



176 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

miah, that the Jews should be liberated at the end 
of 70 years. Because he had perceived through 
the prophet Isaiah, that he was destined by God to 
release the captives, and to have Jerusalem and the 
temple rebuilt ; because he saw, through Jeremiah, 
that the time of their captivity had expired; and 
-chiefly, because the Almighty " stirred his spirit," 
{Ezra i. 1) — Cyrus issued this wonderful command. 
Moreover, for the same reason he only, and no 
other man in the world, could send it forth. Those 
69 weeks or 483 years must begin with the going 
forth of this command, and end with the birth or 
appearance of Christ in the flesh. Everything, 
then, is clear concerning that command : but, not- 
withstanding that the beginning of this period is 
here positively stated, notwithstanding that the 
Omniscent himself, speaking through Isaiah, called 
by name the man, from whom this command was 
to go forth, long before he was born, and notwith- 
standing that this man, Cyrus, assures us that he 
did proclaim the command — aye, notwithstanding 
all this, nearly all our expositors of the Scriptures 
go to work and tell us, that king Artaxerxes issued 
this command, and Nehemiah executed it, in build- 
ing the walls, when the temple and the city had 
been built for many years: all this simply to make 
their chronology suit. 

If a system of chronology runs clearly contrary 
to the word of God, as the one we generally adopt 
does, one certainly ought to give room to the thought 
lhat something must be wrong about it. But in- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. I 77 

stead of doing so, we regard it as infallible, and 
endeavor, in an ingenious way, to effect an agree- 
ment between the two; this is always done in such 
a manner that the word of the Lord has to bend 
and mold itself to conform to man's reckoning. — 
But what is gained thereby? The result is simply 
confusion instead of elucidation. Our chronologers 
and expositors maintain that Cyrus's command went 
forth 536 years before Christ; however, 69 weeks 
make only 483 years, consequently their reckoning 
gives 53 years more than the Scriptures require. — 
As, therefore, the command of Cyrus does not suit 
their chronology, they seek for another, which they 
find in 445 B. C, 91 years later, when Nehemiah 
obtained permission to build the wall of Jerusalem. 
From that time they reckon 445 years to the birth 
of Christ; but those 69 weeks make 4S3 years, and 
so they have 3% years less by this command, which 
never was one. Those 3 8 years reach so far beyond 
the birth of Christ, unto His crucifixion, resurrec- 
tion, and ascension ; and now they tell us that those 
numbers refer to the end of Christ's career on earth. 
This, then, is what is to be meant by the words of 
Dan. in ch. ix. 2j: "Unto the Messiah the Prince." 
At the birth of Christ the angels said: "Unto 
you is born this day a Savior." He was the Savi- 
or even at His birth, and did not become such at 
His baptism or at His ascension. "For unto you 
is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior; 
which is Christ the Lord," Luke ii. 11. He not 
only was the Savior at His birth, but "Christ the 



178 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Lord" also. According to our chronologers, He 
only became such when He was baptized, as some 
have it, or at His ascension, as others think. All 
this is done to sustain the confused system of Bible 
chronologers according to established order, or 
rather, disorder. 

The command of king Cyrus, which was and 
could be the only one, was given on the tenth day 
of the fifth month, Ab, the day on which the captiv- 
ity of the Jews ended; it fell on the 15th of August, 
488 B. C. That is the beginning point of those 69 
weeks or 483 years, which ended with the birth of 
Christ, in August, five years before the Christian 
era began. Some of our most learned men agree 
in saying that the Christian era began at least four 
years too late. Wm. Thurman tells us in his Chro- 
nology, that it was the 15th of August, when Cyrus 
gave command to rebuild Jerusalem and the tem- 
ple, and that Christ was born on the 15th of August, 
five years before the beginning of our era. 

"And after threescore and two weeks shall Mes- 
siah be cut off, but not for Himself" — in the Ger- 
man; "and be nothing more," v. 26. These 62 
weeks, separated from the seven, form a period of 
434 years, and show when Christ was to be cutoff, 
or to die. It is said that in the space of 69 weeks, 
in which 7 weeks and 62 weeks form an undivided 
time, the walls of Jerusalem shall be built again," 
even in troublous times." Those 62 weeks, stand- 
ing by themselves, must therefore take their begin- 
ning with the time at which the walls were completed. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 79 

According to Nehemiah vi. 15, the wall was fin- 
ished on the 25th day of the month Elul, or on the 
nth of September, 406 B. C. ; consequently, this 
period ended on the nth of September, A. D. 29, 
about six months before the death of Christ. It is 
said: '''After threescore and two weeks shall Mes- 
siah be cut off;" that is, after the expiration or end 
of 62 weeks Christ shall die. To be cut off and 
"to be nothing more" are here equivalent to dying 
the death, which happened six months afterivards, 
thus fulfilling this Scripture. 

+ 

+ 



section in. 



The Woman Clothed with the Sun, and 
Michael's Contest with the Dragon. 

"And there appeared a great wonder in heaven: 
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under 
her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. 
And she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, 
and pained to be delivered. And there appeared 
another wonder in heaven : and behold, a great red 
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven 
crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third 
part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to 
the earth ; and the dragon stood before the woman 
which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her 
child as soon as it was born. And she brought 
forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with 
a rod of iron; and her child was caught up unto 



I So AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

God, and to His throne. And the woman lied into 
the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of 
God, that they should feed her there a thousand 
two hundred and threescore days," Rev. xii. 1-6. 

I. The Great Wonder in Heaven. 

The term heaven frequently indicates an elevated 
station, as that of emperors, kings, princes, and in 
general, superiors and officers in the civil world, as 
well as in the economy of the church. It also 
signifies a moral or spiritual condition, as well as 
the kingdom of God on earth or the Christian 
church in this world; likewise the heavenly king- 
dom in the world of glory. The context with which 
the word is connected, must explain its proper re- 
lations. In this book the term heaven is generally 
used with reference to God's kingdom on earth. — 
It is thus employed in this passage. This great 
wonder appears in the Christian church, in the do- 
main of Christianity. 

II. The Woman an Image of the Church. 

The woman clothed with the sun represents the 
pure and true church of Christ in this world. In 
ch. xix. 7, it is said : " Let us be glad and rejoice, and 
.give honor to Him ; for the marriage of the Lamb is 
come, and His wife hath made herself ready." And 
an angel said unto John, in ch. xxi. 9: "Come 
hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." 
It is clear that both these passages refer to Christ 
and His church. She, the pure church, is "the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. l8l 

bride, the Lamb's wife." This woman clothed with 
the sun, cannot therefore represent anything else. 
" Clothed with the sun." She is illu 
mined throughout by Christ, the San of Life ; He 
is her living light; she is His habitation. She is 
surrounded by Him as with a robe of glory. She 
has put off the old man Adam and his desires ; and 
put on the new man Christ and His mind like a 
garment: The Sun of Righteousness is the power 
and glory of the church. 

"The moon under her feet." The 

moon is the resting place of her feet; she stands 
upon it. The moon is a symbol of change. The 
Mosaic shadows and sacrifices and ceremonies were 
types, and could continue only until the reality 
which they represented came forth to endure. — 
When that which is real and permanent has come, 
the ideal ceases ; hence, the moon is a type of 
change. But shall the woman, the church stand 
on that which is changeable? No, she is not built 
upon untenable ground. She rests upon the Mes- 
siah revealed by God Matth. xvi. 18. Not upon 
the confession of Peter, but upon that which was 
revealed by God, by which Peter knew that Cl-rist 
was the Son of God. Christ says (v. 17): "Flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my 
Father which is in heaven. And upon this rock" 
— that which is revealed by God— "I will build my 
church." In the sacrifices God began to reveal 
His Son; the lamb of the passover pointed to the 
true Lamb of God which was offered for the sins 



182 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

of the world. So also the sin-offering made on the 
great day of atonement for the reconciliation of the 
people, points out Christ's offering for the sin and 
atonement of the whole world. Hence these sym- 
bolical matters were divine institutions that con- 
firmed and made more comprehensible to the people 
the promises of the coming Messiah. Upon these 
divine confirmations of His promises and indica- 
tions of a future offering of atonement by Christ, 
the wonderful woman of the sun has firmly set her 
feet, proving that everything has been done accord- 
ing to God's counsel and God's will. 

Moreover, the moon is a luminary inferior to the 
sun. Thus the arrangements of the Old Testament 
were much inferior in light and power to those of 
the New. They were typical and preparing the way 
for that which is perfect. 

44 Upon her head a crown of twelve 
stars." This is a glorious representation of the 
twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. These apostles 
were called by Christ to become, under Him, the 
founders of the New Testament church, the bearers 
of the divine doctrine unto the people. As teach- 
ers they shine, "as the brightness of the firmament, 
and as the stars for ever and ever," Daniel xii. 3. 
These are the stars upon the head of the woman; 
she is crowned with them, and "continues stead- 
fast in the apostles' doctrine," Act ii. 42. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 83 

III. The Woman's Cries of Travail and 
Anguish. 

"And she, being with child, cried, travailing in 
Mrth, and pained to be delivered." By these sym- 
bolical terms is represented the condition of the 
pure church of the New Testament. The time 
when she was in such a state of distress, sorrow and 
anguish and cried so pitifully for help and deliver- 
ance, was that of her tenth persecution, by far the 
most cruel of all, under the dominion of pagan 
Rome, between the years of our Lord 303 and 31 1. 
For eight years this persecution continued without 
interruption, and all conceivable modes of torture 
and execution. Fresh edicts by the emperor Dio- 
cletian still increased the severity of the measures 
taken for the utter extermination of the church ; 
and so new and more horrible means of attaining 
this end continued to be devised. The woman's 
cry of wailing and anguish, to find a helper and de- 
liverer, in her agony, fell into this period, and was 
the time of the opening of the fifth seal. " And 
when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the 
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word 
of God, and for the testimony which they held ; 
and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, 
O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and 
avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" 
Rev. vi. 9, 10. Here the martyrs are represented 
as crying out beneath the altar of sacrifice upon 
which their blood was shed for the sake of the word 
of God, during the ten persecutions of this pagan 



184 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

imperial power. Their blood, together with that of 
the tenth persecution, called for vengeance to the 
holy and true God of heaven. Beside this inno- 
cent blood, the hard pressed church was crying, in 
her sorrowful condition, as in travail, unto God for 
help and deliverance. 

IV. The Woman's Son a Type of True Gov- 
ernment. 

11 And she brought forth a man-child, who was to 
rule all nations with a rod of iron, 11 This man- 
child can be no other than a civil government, 
founded and administered on Christian principles. 
This is proved by the rod or scepter of iron. Iron 
is a type of rigor, strength and perseverance. A 
government ordained and administered according 
to the laws of God, is strong and firm to endure 
every trial, ft is a severe rule and rod of correc- 
tion for the wicked, but a gentle protector of the 
pious. Only such a rod of correction could restrain 
those heathens from satisfying their malice and 
murderous desires upon the Christians. A govern- 
ment which protects the good and, punishes the 
evil and secures liberty of conscience in matters of 
worship, is a gift of God. Such a protective gov- 
ernment was affected under Constantine the Great. 
He adopted Christianity in the year 3 it, became 
the sole ruler of the Roman empire in 323, declared 
Christianity the only true religion, and raised it in 
324 to be the religion of the state. Laws and or- 
dinances were accordingly introduced and in 330 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 85 

the pagan worship was forbidden. Thus arose a 
government to protect God's kingdom on earth, 
and this was the man-child brought into the world 
by the woman. 

Before we proceed with the history of the wo- 
man, it is necessary to say something of the dragon, 
her arch-enemy. The dragon is Satan, who made 
use of the Roman sovereignty to exterminate Chris- 
tianity. This heathenish sovereignty is the external 
image of the Devil's internal fury against God and 
His cause. 

The dragon is red, fiery, cruel, thirsting for blood. 
He has seven crowned heads. The seven heads 
with crowns represent the seven forms of govern- 
ment, according to which the Roman empire was ad- 
ministered; crowns being signs of rulers. These ru- 
lers were kings, consuls, dictators, decemvirs (ten 
men), military tribunes, triumvirs (three men), and 
emperors, or sole sovereigns. The ten horns signify 
ten provinces, over which this government extended. 

There is a distinction to be made between the 
seven heads and ten horns of the beast of the sea, 
in ch. xiii, and those of the dragon. There seven 
heads indicate seven principal governments that 
were hostile to God and which being completed in 
the Papacy, thenceforth compose the perfect beast ; 
while ten horns signify ten kingdoms that after- 
wards arose out of the Roman empire. There the 
seven heads are not crowned; but the ten horns 
bear crowns, because they represent kingdoms. — 
12 



lS6 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Mere the seven heads bear crowns, because they 
typify seven forms of government; while the ten 
horns are not crowned, because they picture ten 
provinces of one empire, and not kingdoms as before. 

V. The Dragon the Enemy of the Woman. 

"And the dragon stood before the woman which 
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as 
so 07i as it was born! 1 

Constantius Chlorus, father of Constantine the 
Great, was the fellow-regent of Diocletian and 
Maximian, who abdicated iu the year 305. He 
reigned in Britain, Gaul and Spain. After his 
death in 306, Constantine, his son, who favored the 
Christians, reigned in his stead. The soldiers of 
Constantine proclaimed him emperor ; and so he 
made a campaign through Italy, conquering Maxen- 
tius, his fellow-regent, m the year 312. At the same 
time Licinius, his brother-in-law, was ruling in eas- 
tern Europe, and Maximian in eastern Asia. In 
313 Constantine proclaimed an edict which gave 
permission to every one to espouse Christianity. — 
In the same year Maximian was conquered by 
Licinius and Constantine, and died shortly after. — 
Constantine's sole fellow-regent now was his broth- 
er-in-law. But the friendly relations between the 
two soon changed into open hostility. Licinius 
devoted himself entirely to heathenism while Con- 
stantine adhered to Christianity ; consequently the 
war which broke out between them in 323, became 
n struggle of life and death between Christianity 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 157 

and paganism. Licinius was overcome, and Con- 
stantine was lord of the whole empire. 

Here may be seen how eagerly the pagan em- 
perors Maxentius and Maximian, watched every 
step of Constantine, because they knew that his 
father had been favorably disposed toward the 
Christians, and had not carried out in the countries 
under his jurisdiction, the edicts issued from Rome 
for their extermination ; besides, they had perceived 
how Constantine, from the beginning of his reign, 
had proved his disposition by his acts. These pa- 
gan rulers fought with all their might, to swallow 
up the government that protected Christianity, in 
its very beginning; moreover they kept on murder- 
ing the Christians, as long as they could. In this 
manner the dragon stood before the woman, who 
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child 
.as soon as it was born. 

VI. The Removal of the Woman's Child. 

"And her child was caught up unto God!' The 
protective rule, or national institute of Christiani- 
ty, typified by this child of the church, is the right 
of government which naturally belongs and is pecu- 
liar to the kingdom of God. Consequently it is of 
God; but here it is removed back unto God, its 
Author. True Christianity gained but little in be- 
ing made the religion of state by an imperial de- 
cree; for this made no better Christians of the 
people. They adopted it externally, but within 
they were heathen as before; and thus the inhabit- 



1 88 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

ants of the great Roman empire became Christians 
without really possessing Christianity. In a short 
time the mode of worship was accommodated to 
the carnal mind of these pretenders, and made to 
consist chiefly in a service of images and ceremonies. 
The officers of the church adopted high titles of 
honor: pride, avarice, ambition and worldliness 
suppressed purity of heart and holiness of life, while 
the worship in the churches was more like a public 
display than a true adoration of God. The secu- 
larization of the church called into existence cor- 
responding fixed laws, by which it was ruled. As 
early as in the reign of the emperor Theodosius, 
which extended from 408 to 450, such an ecclesi- 
astical code was compiled; another was made under 
Justinian, between 529 and 533. This theological 
doctrine of faith introduced by the emperor Justi- 
nian was under the protection of the civil power; 
it was the creed of the state, which the people were 
bound to hold and teach, and which was to guide 
them in conducting their public worship, without 
paying any special attention to the teachings of the 
Bible. Whoever believed or taught otherwise was 
persecuted, as well as under the rule of Paganism. 
Civil protection was denied to the truly pious, and 
thus the man-child was caught up unto God. — 
That is to say, God takes the right to a protective 
government, which belongs to His kingdom, in care 
for His people, until after the woman's flight into 
the wilderness; then He will restore it, to remain 
in her possession unto the end of the millennium,. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 89 

VII. The Woman's Flight. 

"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where 
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should 
feed her there a thousand two hundred and three- 
score days." 

"Tlxe woman fled/' Her flight was 
away from the serpent into the wilderness — into 
solitude. The wilderness is here to be considered 
in a twofold sense. It means a state of solitude 
and retirement. The true Christians withdrew 
from the public service of display and images, and 
in separate meetings conducted their worship ac- 
cording to the doctrines of Scripture. But the 
term also indicates an unorganized state, into 
which the true Christians were placed, because as 
an organized body they could not exist, neither in 
a civil nor ecclesiastical way. This state is, there- 
fore, the contrary of that exalted condition, in 
which they were placed by the civil laws and rights 
of Constantine the Great. This siguifies the lowly 
and distressed condition of the church in which, 
being without civil rights and protection, she had 
to remain. 

This state of her retirement from the false wor- 
ship, is likewise the place God has prepared for 
her, that they should feed her there 1260 years. 
By the birth of the son with the royal scepter she 
became the sovereign of the whole vast Roman 
empire, which at that time extended over a great 
part of Asia, Africa and Europe. She not only 
enjoyed civil rights, protection and help for her- 



I90 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

self, but she commanded others how to behave and 1 
conduct themselves. This protective ruling ele- 
ment was caught up from her unto God, though 
not for ever, for He will restore it to her after her 
abode in the wilderness, that she may rule the 
whole world. 

Thus from her exalted, organized condition the 
church was transferred quickly, as on eagles' wings,, 
into the unorganized state of oppression, suffering, 
disgrace, persecution and all the adversities of 
life; where, destitute of political rights and human 
help, she was treated at will by wicked and satanic 
sovereignties. The general history of the church 
proves irrefutably that she was placed in such a 
state; but, in spite of all oppression and persecu- 
tion, she was sustained by God, and the doctrines 
of the Scriptures were preserved. That this wil- 
derness signifies only some remote place, such as 
Piedmont in Italy and the valleys of the Alps,, 
where a small congregation of Christians main- 
tained themselves through all the persecutions of 
the dark period, cannot well be supposed; for this 
would not fully exhaust the sense furnished by the 
history of the church. Christianity was extended, 
not only through western Europe, but in other 
parts of Europe, in Asia and Africa; up to this 
day it has preserved itself under the Turkish yoke,, 
as well as in the north of Europe under the Rus- 
sian government. The term in question represents 
the oppressed state of Christians in general, in, 
which they continued among the nations of the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 9 I 

earth as an unorganized people, without the right 
of introducing spiritual or civil laws for their pro- 
tection and safety, as claiming these from existing 
legislatures, in different countries. True, pseudo- 
Christianity had legal pretection in spiritual and 
civil matters; but not so the true. Nevertheless 
God still fed this congregation. 

Roman Catholicism and Mohammedanism be- 
gan their false worship at almost the same time - r 
and they caused abominable desolations in the 
province of divine service and religion. Laws,, 
spiritual and civil, protect these desolating religious 
systems: the people are compelled, by force of 
arms, to yield obedience, and so the true worship 
is thereby suppressed and destroyed. As long as 
these powers exist and are able to tyrannize over her r 
the church remains, more or less, in the wilderness. 

"A thousand two hundred and 
threescore days/' This means 1260 years. 
They are the years of power for Mohammed and 
the Roman hierarchy, as well as the years of the 
woman's flight. Particulars may be seen in Chap- 
ter Third, sections I. and II. 

VIII. The Persecution of the Serpent. 

"And the serpent cast out of his mouth waters as 
a flood after the woman, that he might cause her t& 
be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped 
the woman; and the earth opened her mouth y and 
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out 
of his mouths 



Xg2 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

The serpent represents the enemy of Christianity 
in the province of spiritual things, and the dragon, 
the same in civil matters. That the flood of water 
issued from the mouth of the serpent and the dra- 
gon, proved that it must be something of an eccle- 
siastical and political nature. This water can 
therefore be nothing else than the false doctrines 
of Mohammed and the papal see of Rome; for 
these are of a spiritual and secular, of an ecclesi- 
astical and political nature, and each in itself is a 
twofold power to persecute the Christians. Water 
is a symbol of doctrine. Pure water is a symbol of 
the pure teachings of the gospel. Water from the 
mouth of the old serpent can be nothing else than 
a satanical doctrine, by which a satanic economy 
is set up. Even in Paradise the old serpent with 
his lying mouth preached his subtle falsehoods to 
our first parents; this he does to day by means of 
Islam, and more particularly by means of the Pa- 
pacy. The papal idolatry is an abominable deso- 
lation and impurity under the name of Christianity, 
but according to the Scriptures nothing less than 
spiritual fornication and lewdness. 

In the wilderness — aye, in the spirit in the wild- 
erness, John saw the great whore sitting " upon a 
scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy." 
She held a cup in her hand "full of abominations 
and filthiness of her fornication ; and upon her fore- 
head was a name written, Mystery, Babylon 
the Great, the mother of harlots 
and abominations of the earth." — 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE." 1 93 

Rev. xvii. 3-5. This woman is the Romish church, 
and the antitype of the woman of the sun. She 
is the "mother of harlots and all abominations of 
the earth," the mother of false doctrines and false 
worship. She lives and abides in the wilderness, 
in spiritual desolations, and is " drunken with the 
blood of the saints and the martyrs of Jesus," v. 6. 
She makes the nations drunk with "the wine of the 
wrath of her fornication," the cup of her filthiness, 
which is kept constantly filled by the flood from 
the serpent's mouth. By this flood of lies the wo- 
man of the sun was to be drowned; but she re- 
mained in the light of the pure doctrine of her 
Savior and His apostles, and in the midst of this 
spiritual desolation and persecution she is preserved 
by God and fed with the bread and water of eter- 
nal life. 

u And the earth helped the woman . . . .and swal- 
lowed vp the flood 7vhich the dragon cast out of his 
mouth." 

The earth or the civil world helped the woman. 
By means of the Reformation many States were in 
a short time wrestled from the Roman hierarchy, 
as for example, Prussia, Saxony, Wurtemberg, 
Hesse, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and others. 
They defendeded their rights, and protested against 
the assumptions of the Roman hierarchy at the 
Diet of Spire m 1529, and at the Diet of Augsburg 
in 1548; and 1555 the religious peace of Augsburg 
was confirmed. Thus help was given to the wo- 
man by civil rulers, that she might not be drowned 



194 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

by the flood of persecution caused by false doc- 
trines and false religions. 

But the woman of the sun obtained still more 
help from the earth. England, Switzerland and the 
whole of Germany renounced the papal idolatry 
and became Protestant lands. Countries entirely 
Catholic, which had not tolerated other religious 
creeds, such as Austria, Spain, Italy and France in 
part, have recently granted toleration by changing 
their constitution. Even Turkey will soon have to 
yield still more than she was compelled to do after 
the Crimean war.* But the greatest help of the 
church is found in the government of the United! 
States of America. In this, the only free govern- 
ment of the world, the man-child with his sceptre 
is restored to the woman by God, never again to be 
taken from her. Through this also the millennium 
will be begun and completed. 

IX. The War in Heaven. 

" And there was war in heaven: Michael and 
his angels fought against the dragon ; and the dra- 
gon fought and his angels, and prevailed not ; 
neither was their ptace found any more in heaven^ 
And the great dragon was cast out, that old ser- 
pent, called the Devil and Safari, which deceiveth 
the whole world: he was cast out into the earth r 
and his angels were cast out with him" v. 7-9. 

The beginning* of the war. That 
this contest took place in the pre-Adamic world of 
*After the war with Russia, Turkey did yield. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 95 

spirits and angels, as is generally supposed, is to be 
doubted. The passage before us, with others, is 
adduced as a proof; but a close examination there- 
of compels us at least to doubt the correctness of 
this supposition. Take this, for example: "How- 
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the 
morning ! how art thou cut down to the ground, 
which didst weaken the nations!" Isaiah xiv. 12. — 
Here the subject is certainly not the fall of an angel 
or spirit, but the fall of Nebuchadnezzar, king of 
Babylon, who had exalted himself above God, by 
setting up an image, and commanding his subjects, 
under penalty of death, to worship it. The three 
men in the fiery furnace (Dan. hi. 2 1 ) prove this 
assertion. And when, walking in the palace of the 
kingdom of Babylon, he cried out: "Is not this 
great Babylon, that I have built for the house of 
the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the 
honor of my majesty?" a voice fell from heaven 
and said unto him : " The kingdom is departed 
from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and 
thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the fields 
they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven 
times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the 
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and 
giveth it to whomsoever He will." The same hour 
was the thing fulfilled, Nebuchadnezzar, the fair 
son of the morning, fell down from his heaven — 
from the honor of his majesty — into insanity and 
beastly habits, Daniel iv. 29-33. Hence, also, it 
is said m Isaiah xiv. 16: "Is not this the man that 



196 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

made the earth to tremble, that did shake king- 
doms ?" It is scarcely to be conceived how this 
passage can be employed to prove a war and a fall 
of angels in the pre-Adamic world of spirits, or 
heaven. 

"For God spared not the angels that sinned, but 
cast them down to hell, and delivered them into 
chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment," 
2 Peter ii. 4. Here it is only said that angels have 
sinned, that they have been cast down by God and 
are reserved unto judgment, not in consequence of 
a war with Michael in the pre-Adamic spirit-world, 
but by God. "And the angels which kept not their 
first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath 
reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto 
the judgment of the great day," Jude 6. This 
passage also knows nothing of a war in the angelic 
world. It says only that angels lost their first es- 
tate, that they left their habitation or place of abode, 
were cast down by God, and, bound with everlast- 
ing chains of darkness, are reserved unto His judg- 
ment. 

"I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven," 
Luke x. 18. This falling of Satan took place at 
the time when Jesus was on earth, not before men 
lived upon it. When seventy disciples whom He 
had sent out shortly before His death, returned, 
with joy, and said unto Him: "Lord, even the 
devils are subject unto us through Thy name!" — 
He spake these words unto them. Considering 
what had been accomplished by the seventy, and 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 97 

what remained to be accomplished by His impend- 
ing passion, He saw Satan fall from heaven, that 
is, from His high station as the prince of this world. 

Through Christ's sacrifice of atonement, com- 
pleted upon the cross, the dominion of Satan, of 
sin and death, was broken; through His resurrec- 
tion, life and immorality were restored to mankind 
that were held captive by death. Thus Satan was- 
cast down from heaven; thus the prince of this 
world was cast out (John xii. 31), and the prison of 
death overcome. Up to that time Satan, the ac- 
cuser of their brethren, could still point to the mil- 
lions of bodies, that had to lie captive under the 
power of death ; for not one of them could rise ere 
Christ had risen. But when Christ, the one great- 
est sacrifice, had actually been offered as a ransom 
for the sins of all the world, having delivered Him- 
self unto the death which could not hold Him r 
He arose, taking with Him some of the first fruits of 
His resurrection, whose bodies left their graves after 
His rising, and appeared unto many, Matth. xxvii. 
52, 53. This had fallen upon Satan as a snare, and 
caused his sudden fall; for the utmost bounds of 
the spirit- world had discovered, through Messiah 
himself, that a deliverer from sin, death and hell 
had actually appeared unto mankind. 

Of a war among the angels in heaven in that 
far remote period before the creation of man, there 
is, in my opinion, no proof in the word of God. — 
This war must have begun at a time when Satan 
already was Satan, not when he became such; and 



I98 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

it must relate to our earth and the human family, 
in so far as it can be determined with Biblical 
certainty. 

Michael signifies : Who is like the Lord ? or, 
Who is like unto God? He is called "the great 
prince " in Daniel xii. 1, and "the archangel" in 
Jude 9. He is a created angel, who stands for 
God's people and helps to defend their right to rule 
our earth, as may be plainly seen from Daniel x. 
13-21, and ch. xii. 1. The angel Gabriel tells us 
that the prince of the kingdom of Persia had with- 
stood him one and twenty days, and he had re- 
mained there with the kings of Persia" — "gained the 
victory over the king of Persia," according to the Ger- 
man version. In ch. x. verse 21 he says: "There 
is none that hoideth with me in these things, but 
Michael your prince;" and further in the next 
verse : " Also I, in the first year of Darius the Mede, 
even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him." — 
From this may be seen that Michael stood up for 
God's people in behalf of their right to rule, and 
consequently came in conflict with such sovereign- 
ties, as willed otherwise. It was in order to attain 
this object that he disputed with Satan about the 
body of Moses, Jude 9. The dispute about the body 
of Moses is not about his dead body, but about the 
legal right of government belonging to the kingdom 
of the Lord Jesus, according to which God's people 
must be ruled; and which was administered typi- 
cally by Moses and Aaron. There can be no ques- 
tion here of a dead body of flesh and blood, but 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 1 99 

a body of law. That under the Mosaic economy 
a priestly kingdom was called into life by Jehovah, 
and administered by Moses and Aaron, is a fact \ 
that this official administration ceased with the 
seventy years' captivity, and thus lost its life and 
power, is another fact. The right to rule had not 
ceased, but its vital force was spent; its executive 
life was extinct. In this condition it could justly 
be compared to a dead body ; and this is the body 
of Moses spoken of here, as is proved by Zecha- 
riah iii. 1-8. 

"And He shewed me Joshua the high priest 
standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan 
standing at his right hand to resist him. And the 
Lord said unto Satan. The Lord rebuke thee, O 
Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem 
rebuke thee : is not this a brand plucked out of the 
fire?" v. 1-2. After the Babylonian captivity the 
Mosaic government was again to be put in force 
among the Jews. Zerubbabel was the prince, and 
Joshua the high priest. Here stood the angel of 
the Lord and Joshua the high priest, who was to be 
re-invested with his festal or official robes. He was 
to revive the extinct priesthood, that it might re- 
main in its typical relation unto the coming of 
Christ. This Satan would not allow, hence his op- 
position. He opposed not only the typical, but 
rather the real priestly kingdom of Christ. This 
high-priestly kingdom of Jesus Christ is the real 
apple of discord between Satan and Michael, the 
arch-angel. 



200 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Christ's kingly priesthood and high-pnestly king- 
dom are to furnish means and ends, of ruling this 
world, and not the murderous laws of the prince of 
this world, and the god of the earth. Michael and 
his angels continue to fight against Satan and his 
angels, until every false form of government, civil 
and spiritual, are exterminated from the earth, and 
Satan will be cast out of his ruling element forever. 

Shortly the Papacy and Islam, both of which 
assumed spiritual and political rights, will be cast 
out of the ecclesiastical and political heaven, and 
the government of the royal priesthood of Jesus 
Christ obtain life and power among all the nations 
of earth. Be it so. Amen. 



1 

SECTION IV. 



The Millennium or Millennial Kingdom. 

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having 
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his 
hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, 
which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand 
years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him 
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the 
nations no more, till the thousand years should be ful- 
filled : and after that he must be loosed a little season. 
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg- 
ment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them 
that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and which 
had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither 
had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their 
hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thou- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 201 

sand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again 
until after the thousand years were finished. This is 
the first resurrection, 

Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first re- 
surrection : on such the second death hath no power ; 
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall 
reign with him a thousand years." — Kev. xx. 1-6. 

This passage of Holy Writ famishes the basis 
for the theory of a millennial kingdom, also called 
Millennium, which word signifies a thousand years. 
The term is used to indicate a period of a thousand 
years of peace, which still await the church, and 
will be on this earth. The Millennium therefore is 
a time of terrestrial bliss for the congregation of 
Christ, in which they shall enjoy the lofty blessings 
won in lowliness and servility, during so many cen- 
turies of hard and bloody struggles with Satan and 
the God-hating sovereignties of earth. Not until 
all governments that bind the conscience and re- 
fuse religious freedom to man shall be abolished, 
can the general extension of God's kingdom and a 
period of lasting peace begin. That there is a 
millennial period of triumphant victory for the 
Church over all hostile powers, is believed ; but it 
all belongs to this earthly life. 

A millennial glory during which evil shall be abol- 
ished, so often talked about, is not taught in this 
passage, and nowhere else in the Bible, and is there- 
fore only imaginary and erroneous. In this period 
of a thousand years, evil itself is not abolished; 
but it exists in the world, and will exist throughout 
13 



2 02 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

this period, not in a domineering but, in a subdued 
state, under the control and influe7ice of the Spirit 
of God, who shall enlighten all the nations of this 
world. The power and dominion of Satan, and 
prince of this world, is not annihilated but suppress- 
ed and subdued by the power of the Gospel. 

Sickness and death will not be abolished but the 
power thereof diminished; for it is said: "There 
shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an 
old man that has not filled his days, for the child 
shall die an hundred years old," Isaiah lxv. 20. — 
The righteous and unrighteous will die, and the 
saints walk by faith and not yet by sight. Man 
shall eat bread "in the sweat of his face." The 
whole creation is not yet " delivered from the bond- 
age of corruption," but groaneth and travaileth in 
pain waiting for the manifestation of the sons of 
God, Rom. viii. 19-22. 

It will be a period of general gathering to the 
true worship of God, and of universal blessedness, 
peace and safety without war, and of a general 
teaching of the ways and laws of God, which the 
following passage will prove. " But in the last days 
it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the 
house of the Lord shall be established in the top of 
the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills ; 
and people shall flow unto it. And many nations 
shall come, and say : Come let us go up to the 
mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God 
of Jacob ; and He will teach us of His ways, and we 
will walk in His paths : for the law shall go forth 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 203 

of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 
And He shall judge among many people, and re- 
buke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat 
their swords into plough-shares, and their spears 
into pruning hooks : Natio?i shall not lift up a sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more. "But they shall sit every 7nan under his vine 
and under his fig tree ; and none shall make them 
afraid : for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath 
spoken it," Micah. iv. 1-4. 

It is a period of general knowledge of the Lord : 
" For the earth shall he. Jilted >vith the knowledge of 
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," 
Hab. ii. 14. 

It will be a period of victory, for the Church of 
Christ on earth, over the ruling power of Satan, and 
'"the rulers of the darkness of this world" and 
"spiritual wickedness in high places;" for Satan 
will be bound, his domineering power arrested, and 
with it, all the ruling powers of the darkness of this 
world will be suppressed but not abolished. 

There will be a triumph over death itself ; for 
the holy martyrs, of every age, will have part in the 
first resurrection and reign with Christ a thousand 
years. This reign is not a visible terrestrial reign ; 
" but the result and influence of this invisible reign 
will be visible terrestrial and secular. Christianity 
will gain a complete external victory, will be un- 
conditionally recognized by all rulers and govern- 
ments, and exhibit a most glorious development in 
all the relations and circumstances of life, in art 



204 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

and science, and in all the employments and inter- 
ests of men; the loftiest and the most lowly rela- 
tions of life will be established, and sanctified in 
the Lord, Zech. xiv. 20, 21. 

But this consummation is still of a terrestrial 
nature, and is consequently not yet complete, but 
belongs to the Messianic reign of the gospel econo- 
my ; "for Pie must reign" (as Messiah in and 1 
through His Church and not as Lord of glory) 
"till He hath put all enemies under His feet. — 
"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" 
Death shall be destroyed at His coming, and net 
before. 

I. Events Preceding the Millennium. 

Within the last ten or fifteen years, many, aye r 
very many momentous events have come io pass, 
which are evidently to be regarded as preparing the 
way for the millennium. Many predictions of the 
prophets are fulfilled; and the periods in which, 
according to their visions, such events should take 
place, correspond to those of their fulfilment. 

Daniel's 2300 years, which began in 426 B. C. 
and ended in 1875, are completed with regard to 
their two periods. The first of 490 years referred 
to the destruction of the Jewish capital and sanc- 
tuary, and the end of their nationality; it was lit- 
erally fulfilled between A. D. 65 and 72. The 
second relates to Antichrist, the power that perse- 
cutes the Christians, and that w r as finally concen- 
trated in the Roman hierarchy; it ended in 1875. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 205 

The nationality of the Jews has ceased, and the 
Pope's power of killing and murdering Christians 
lias come to an end. 

The 1335 years spoken of in Daniel xii. 12, which 
began in 533, when the false worship was establish 
ed in Rome, and urged upon the people by force 
of arms, ended in 1868, and constitute the period 
fixed for that power which suppressed liberty of 
conscience. 

The thousand two hundred and threescore years, 
during which the woman clothed with the sun was 
a fugitive in the wilderness (Rev. xii. 6), end at the 
same time. 

The forty and two months, or a thousand two 
hundred and threescore years of Rev. xi. 2, 3, which 
began in 606 or 607, when the Pope of Rome was 
declared the Father of all Christendom, ended in 
1866 or 1867. 

From this may be seen that the periods stated 
by the prophets for the oppression of Christians and 
Christianity by these powers, end and have ended 
at the present time. The question then is: Are 
there any signs which will signify this supposition ? 
We consider but a few events of the many, which 
occurred within some years. 

Our Civil War was a grand event. The best 
powers of our whole country stood arrayed against 
each other in arms. And why ? We profess to be 
a free people, and grant liberty of conscience unto 
all. We express our principles as follows: "All 
men are created equal, and are endowed by their 



206 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Creator with certain inalienable rights ; among these 
(rights) are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happi- 
ness." Had we granted these rights to the four 
millions of our black population? Just because 
we did not, we were compelled to have a war. The 
struggle was long and hard; but in 1865 it ended 
with the overthrow of the slave-power and the tri 
umph of liberty. With this triumph began a new- 
epoch, not for our country only, but foi all the 
countries of the earth. The power of the slave- 
holders, displayed in the most detestable form of 
servitude ever known, was broken; four millions of 
men who had been degraded beneath the brute r 
were recognized as human beings and declared free 
men. This declaration penetrated all institutions 
of slavery like thunder and lightning, proclaiming 
that henceforth they are doomed to be abolished. 
Besides it announces to the world that the Ameri- 
can people and country are now in reality what they 
have long claimed to be. All this is preparing the 
way to universal freedom on earth. 

In 1866 and 1867 Russia, America and Prussia 
refused to recognize the papal government as a civil 
power, and all diplomatic intercourse between them 
and it ceased. 

The king of Italy took from the Pope his city 
and state, occupying them on the second of July r 
1871. September 23, 187 1, the Jesuits were ban- 
ished from Rome by the Italian government. They 
were also driven out of Mexico and Prussia. Pro- 
testant service is held in Italy, and in Rome there 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 207 

are five* Protestant churches. Bibles are sold and 
read in the "holy city," in the abode of those who 
used to burn Christians and Bibles. Thus God 
fulfills His prophetic words. 

The Franco-German war gave -a powerful deci- 
sion against the papal hierarchy. This power is 
broken. v Protestantism was victorious. France, 
the imperial support of the Pope, became a republic. 

On the 13th of July, 1870, the dogma of the 
Pope's infallibility was adopted, by 450 votes against 
88, as a tenet of the Catholic church. Thus that 
"man of sin," "the wicked one" has reviled the 
Most High in heaven, by making himself His equal. 
But at the same time he has reached the summit 
of his arrogance and revealed the "mystery of in- 
iquity;" therefore, according to the law of equili- 
brium, he is near his entire dissolution. By the 
same act he has caused a schism in his church. 

II. The Time of the Millennium. 

According to some, the jubilee of jubilees, the 
hundredth anniversary of our independence, is to 
be the time of the Millennium. Be this as it may; 
but that our government is the only one that se- 
cures civil and religious liberty unto all, can not be 
denied; and that the Centennial of liberty, in which 
all nations take part, is celebrated just now, (1876) 
may not be merely accidental. It is not only a world's 
exposition, but a festival of liberty; to this end, and 
to no other, it has been instituted. It is not with 
out significance, and therefore well deserves our 

* There are now (1881) nine. 



208 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

attention. These and many other events which 
could be mentioned, tell us that in the present age 
a change of things has taken place, and that such 
will take place hereafter. But let us return to the 
subject of our discussion. 

The angel coming down from heaven, with the 
key to the bottomless pit, is believed by many to 
be Christ. But, if so, His coming here is not His 
coming on the last day. Here He comes as an 
angel, as a messenger, and thus belongs to His Mes- 
sianic kingdom. On the last day He will come as 
"the Lord of glory," "in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory." Here He comes as a 
messenger to bind Satan for a thousand years ; then 
He will come to judge him and cast him down to 
hell forever. 

The sitting in judgment of verse 5 refers not to 
the last judgment, which God will pronounce upon 
all men, but to the reign and the jurisdiction of the 
pious on earth; for "judgment was given unto 
them," v. 5. To them was given the right to rule 
the earth. 

III. The Resurrection. 

This means the resurrection of the pious, for 
"the dead in Christ shall rise first," 1 Thess. iv. 16. 
The first resurrection took its beginning immedi- 
ately after the rising of Christ. " And many bodies 
of the saints which slept arose, and came out of 
the graves after His resurrection, and went into the 
holy city, appeared into many," Matth. xxvii. 52, 53. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 209 

This was the beginning of the first resurrection 
which will continue at the beginning of the Millen- 
nium, with the rising of those " that were beheaded/'' 
the martyrs, and close with the final act of the gen- 
eral resurrection. Then all the pious shall rise first, 
before the unrighteous. Thus the first resurrection 
has a beginning, a continuance, and a completion; 
and the Millennium will not come after the general 
resurrection. 

IV. The Binding of Satan. 

Satan is bound, cast into the bottomless pit, and 
shut tip therein. The binding of the Dragon, the 
old Serpent and Satan, means to take from him the 
power of ruling this earth by wicked men and un- 
just laws. This takes for granted that all sovereign- 
ties of the world that oppose the divine laws, ordi- 
nances and administration, and the rights of man's 
consciences, must be removed, to make room for 
something better. 

Cast into tile pit — transferred to his own 
abode. He came from the pit, and is the angel 
thereof, Rev. ix. n. Into this he is cast, and shut 
up as a prisoner for a thousand years. Thus Jesus 
Christ comes as the angel or chief messenger of 
God, with the key to the pit of hell and death, and 
binds the Dragon, that is, takes from him his power 
over the sovereignties of earth, though he be called 
-"the God of the world," and the "Prince of this 
world." This is one of the great works pertaining 
to the mission of Jesus as Messiah. It is also re- 



2IO AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

presented typically by " treading the wine-press of 
the wrath of Almighty God," in Rev. xix. 13-16 
and Isaiah lxiii. 1-6; by the battle with the king 
of the earth at Armageddon on "that great day of 
God Almighty in Rev. xvi. 14; and by the sitting 
in judgment upon the four beasts" for the saints of 
the Most High," in Dan. vii. 9-14 and 21-27. 

The war of the archangel Michael with the Dra- 
gon in Rev. xii, and the crushing of them onarchial 
image of the stone "cut out of the mountain with- 
out hands," signify the same thing. Satan will not 
only be bound with a great chain, which can not be 
broken, but thus bound he will be cast down into 
the Devil's pit; so that he will be prevented, not 
only from employing the sovereignties of earth to 
his purpose, but also from deceiving the nations. — 
What a blessing for the world, and how like unto 
heaven this earth will be even then ! 

" Hasten, Lord, the glorious time, 
When, beneath Messiah's sway, 
Every nation, every clime, 
Shall the gospel call obey. 

Mightiest kings his power shall own ; 
Heathen tribes his name adore ; 
Satan and his host o'erthrown. 
Bound in chains, shall hurt no more." 

V. The Resurrection of the Martyrs. 

They that were beheaded lived. 

They, being witnesses of the Lord Jesus, are to be ad- 
mitted as first fruits of the first resurrection. Doubt- 
less thosewho went out of their graves at the time of 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 2 1 1 

Christ's rising were the martyrs of the early ages. As 
they were the first fruits of the first resurrection of 
the past, these will be the first fruits of the future. 
"They lived and reigned with Christ." This 
reign, however, is not visible, but invisible ; for 
Christ reigns visibly through His children only. — 
That the martyrs, as those who have lost their lives 
through malicious rulers for Christ's sake, will have 
a special interest in His reign, is highly probable. 
They will be His fellow-regents. 

VI. The Lofty Blessings of the Millennium. 

A sound civil government is of so great impor- 
tance that the manifold benefits which the country 
derives from it, are scarcely to be conceived. It 
provides rest, peace, safety, protection and pros- 
perity. Such a time of peace is promised us in 
God's word. Isaiah says, in ch. ii. 4: "And He 
shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke 
many people; and they shall beat their swords into 
plow-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks : 
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither 
shall they learn war any more." "They shall sit 
every man under his vine, and under his fig-tree ; 
and none shall make them afraid : for the mouth 
of the Lord of hosts hath spoken," Micah. iv. 4. 

It will be a time, when science and the knowl- 
edge of the Lord will be universal. " For the earth 
shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of 
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea," Hab. ii. 14. 

The power of death will be weakened, for "there 



212 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an 
old man that hath not filled his days : for the child 
shall die an hundred years old," Isaiah lxv. 20. — 
The earth will become more fertile and the animal 
creation more tame. The blessing and peace of 
God will descend upon the earth and its inhabit- 
ants. See Isaiah xxxv. 1-10. Such is the Millen- 
nium of the Bible. 

Will the second adent of Christ be before this 
period? We say emphatically no, and prove it. — 
After Christ commisoned his disciples to preach the 
gospel to all nations, he said: " Lo I am with you 
always, even unto the end of the world. The end 
the world or Gospel age is the time of the restitu- 
tion of all things; for " He (the Lord) shall send 
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you : 
whom the heaven must receive until the times of 
restitution of all things," Acts iii. 20. 21. 

Is the beginning of the Millennium, in time, the 
same with the end of the world, and with the time 
of the restitution of all things? If so, then He 
will come at its beginning, if not, then He will not 
come at that epoch. The German Bible has it — 
" Behold I am with you all days, till the end of the 
world." — "All days," in preaching, until the last 
day at which day He will come in His glory. 

The more denned time of His second advent is 
.given by our Lord himself, when He says: "When 
the son of man shall come in His glory, and all the 
holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the 
throne of His glory: and before Him shall be 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 213 

gathered all nations, and He shall separate them as 
a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats." — 
Matt. xxv. 31, 32. Here is positively said that 
when He shall come, He will sit on His throne of 
glory to judge all nations. This judgment-day 
must therefore be the day of His coming, and must 
also be the last day; for Jesus says: "He that 
rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, has one 
that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the 
same shall judge him in the last day," John xii. 48. 
At this last day our Lord will come in His glory, 
and not at the beginning of the Millennium ; for 
He says so Himself. 

Again, it is said, that "the Lord Himself shall 
descend from heaven — and the dead in Christ shall 
rise first." The resurrection day is called the last- 
day. Jesus says: "This is the Father's will which 
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, 
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again 
at the last day," John vi. 39. "And this is the 
will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth 
the Son, and belie veth on him, may have everlast- 
ing life; and I will raise him up at the last day," 
verse 40. " Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh 
my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up 
at the last day," verse 54. 

A Pre- Millennial advent can never be harmon- 
ized with these positive and absolute statements of 
Christ Himself; for the resurrection day and the 
judgment day are one and the same day, called the 
last day, and the great day of the Lord. At this 



214 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

great and last day our Lord will come in His glory, 
and not before nor after. It will be the last day 
of the Gospel dispensation, and the day of restiu- 
tion and consummation of all things, in which all 
saints will be raised to immortality, the then living 
believers transfigured, the unrighteous raised, judged 
and sentenced. Satan, not only bound a thousand 
years, but doomed forever, death swallowed up in 
victory, the marriage supper of the Lamb cele- 
brated, by the redeemed of the Lord, and heaven 
and earth renewed, and a new heaven and a new 
earth brought forth by Him, who says: "Behold I 
make all things new." After this last and great 
day there will be no other day, much less a thou- 
sand years for saints to reign with Christ upon the 
earth. 

It is asserted that the passage in Rev. xx. 1-7, 
where it is said that the martyrs shall live, and reign 
with Christ a thousand years after the first resurrec- 
tion, can not be harmonized with a Post-Millennial 
advent. This is veiy^asily done by explaining Scrip- 
tures with Scriptures ; for the Bible contains no 
contradiction. 

We read: "I saw thrones and they sat upon 
them, and judgment was given unto them." Prior 
to this Satan, the prince and God of this world, 
(John xii. 31,. .2 Cor. iv. 4,) held the ruling power 
over this world, and over the rights of man ; and 
many millions of Christians were, according to this 
rule of government condemned to die as criminals 
under Roman emperors, popery and Mohamme- 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 215 

danism. This ungodly ruling power must change 
hands, and revert into the hands of Christians, so 
that the rights of man will be judged according to 
the rules and regulations of the gospel. This 
change is signified by the binding of Satan, (Rev. 
xx. 2) and by giving the kingdom and dominion 
under the whole heaven to the people of the saints 
of the Most High; (Daniel vii. 27) and it is also 
the beginning of the Millennium. 

After this John " saw the souls of them that were 
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word 
of God, .... and they lived and reigned with Christ 
a thousand years." 

The bodies of these souls were beheaded, that 
is, were killed by violent means. These beheaded 
or so killed bodies are the martyrs; " they lived and 
reigned," united with their souls, a thousand years, 
with Christ. "But the rest of the (righteous) dead 
lived not again until the thousand years were fin- 
ished. This is the first resurrection." The first 
resurrection without distinction of time is that of 
all the righteous uead. The righteous martyrs will 
be raised prior to the Millennium, and all the rest 
of the righteous after the Millennium, at the final 
resurrection day — " at the last day." All saints are 
the participants of the first resurrection ; the only 
difference being that the martyrs take part before, 
and the rest of the sainted dead who died by the 
natural law of death, together also with those saints 
who will die in the course of the thousand years, 
will take part after the Millennium at the last and 



2l6 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

final resurrection day. The martyrs only, who are 
the first partakers, can and shall reign with Christ 
in the same manner in which the Church now reigns 
with Him. They, having their glorified bodies,, 
will be in closer union with Him than the Church 
can be w T hile yet remaining in mortal flesh. 

The resurrection of the Son of God is positive, 
personal and absolute — the first — both in time and 
virtue. He is the First-born from, (Col. i. 18,) and 
the First- bogotten of the dead. (Rev. i. 5.) He 
is therefore "the Resurrection and the Life." — 
John xi. 25. 

The resurrection of the saints is not absolutely, 
but only relatively, the first ; for it is only the first 
by standing in relation with the power and virtue 
of the absoute First Resurrection of Jesus Christ 
and is only by power and virtue of it in time and 
virtue the first resurrection of the sons and daugh- 
ters of God. Christ the head and the Church the 
members are relatively one body, and therefore one 
absolute and relative resurrection, all in Christ. 

The relative first commenced immediately after 
Christ's absolute first from his grave; for it is said : 
"And the graves were opened and many bodies of 
the saints which slept, arose, and came out of the 
graves after His resurrection, and went into the 
holy city, and appeared unto many." Matt, xxvu 
52, 53. This was the beginning of the first resur- 
rection of saints, and the "bodies" raised were 
doubtless the martyrs of the ancient Church ; and 
those "beheaded" or violently killed, who lived at 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 217 

-the beginning of the Millennium, are the martyrs 
of the gospel dispensation, and their rising to life 
is a continuation of it. The rest of saints who die 
according to the natural law of death and shall be 
raised at the last day, will conclude the first resur- 
rection. 

It is further asserted that the passage in 2 Thess. 
ii. 1-9, gives conclusive proof for the correctness 
of a Pre-Millennial advent, and with which a Post- 
Millennial advent can not be harmonized. This, 
-of course, is one of their many assertions without 
proof, for the fact in this case is certainly the con- 
trary, which we will prove. 

In this passage the apos'le is speaking of Anti- 
christ, calling him "man of sin" — "son of perdi- 
tion " and " the wicked " — who opposeth and exalteth 
himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shiped; so that he, as God, "sitteth in the temple 
of God, shewing himself that he is God," which is 
being revealed in his time, "whose coming (or re- 
vealing) is after the working of Satan with all power 
and signs and lying wonders and with all deceivable- 
ness of unrighteousness," — "whom the Lord shall 
consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and shall 
destroy with the brightness of his coming." We 
willingly admit that Antichrist, as revealed in pop- 
ery, is meant in this passage. Antichrist is an evil, 
•spiritual, personal being. This evil being is called 
in the Bible," the spirit of Antichrist," (1 John iv. 
3,) the prince of this world, (John xii. 31.) the 
14 



2l8 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that 
worketh in the children of disobedience/' (Eph. ii. 
2,) and "the god of this world," (2 Cor. iv. 4.) — 
He is a fierce enemy against God, and "a king of 
fierce countenance, and understanding dark sent- 
ences ;" "he shall also stand up against the Prince 
of princes," Dan. viii. 24, 25. This personal spir- 
it of Antichrist has been revealing himself and 
made himself visible in different ways and forms^ 
In the garden of Eden he came in the form of a 
serpent, and as soon as Christ was born he came 
as antichrist in the form and power of a king to 
murder the infant Christ ; and afterwards when he 
wanted to condemn and kill Jesus Christ as a crim- 
inal, he came in the form of the Jewish sanhe- 
drim j for after he could not be found guihy of 
death by the law of the Romans, they said: "We 
have a law, and by our law he ought to die," John 
xix. 7. In the persecution of the Christian church 
he made himself visible in the imperial power of 
Rome, and after this 'in Mohammedanism and 
Popery. In this form of popery he seated himself 
in the temple of God, showing himself that he is 
God. The pope assumed to have power from God 
over all the world to rule civilly and religiously and 
therefore he presumes himself to be the universal 
ruler of this world and the Holy Father of the 
Church of God. The popish ruling power was the 
most cruel, persecuting and ungodly against the 
people of God that ever was on earth and ever 
could be. In this form of popery, Antichrist will 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 219 

be consumed by the spirit of the mouth of God, or 
by the spirit and word of the gospel, that is, the 
popish power will be abolished by the preaching of 
the gospel. The spirit of Antichrist and Satan will 
be subdued a thousand years, and the people of 
God will have a glorious Millennium of peace and 
happiness without being persecuted by the ungodly 
governments of this world. 

But this is not the last form in which Antichrist 
will make himself visible in this world, for it is said : 
1 John ii. 22, "He is Antichrist that denieth the 
Father and the Son." The spirit of Antichrist in 
all his visible forms has not denied the Father and 
the Son; therefore we are to look for another visi- 
ble appearance of him. 

It is said in Rev. xx. 7, 8: "And when the 
thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed 
out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the 
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth. 
Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle : 
the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." 

This being Antichrist's last visible appearance. 
he may then undoubtedly manifest himself as an 
open enemy fo God. Something of this kind has 
already appeared in the French revolution, the 
God of heaven was rejected as the true Gcd and 
human reason acknowledged to be God; so it may 
be with Antichrist in his last appearance as Gog 
and Magog denying the Father and the Son, and 
fulfilling the Scriptures. In this last form and ap 
pearance he will be destroyed by the brightness 



2 20 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

of the coiiiing of the Son of God at the last day. 
By this natural and unconstrained explanation of 
the two passages, considered as Pre-Millennial 
strong holds, the lover of truth will see that they 
"are not only harmonious with a Post-Millennial ad- 
vent but with the whole tenor of the Bible and there- 
fore of course against Pre-Millenarianism. 



CHAPTER FIFTH. 



SECTION I. 



The Feet-Washing of Christ. 

"Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus 
knew that His hour was come that He should depart out 
of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which 
were in the world, He loved thSm unto the end. And 
supper being ended (the Devil having now put into the 
heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him), 
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into 
His hands, and that He was come from God, and went 
to God ; He riseth from supper, and laid aside His gar- 
ments ; and took a towel, and girded Himself. After 
that He poureth water into a basin ; and began to wash 
His disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel 
wherewith He was girded. Then cometh He to Simon 
Peter : and Peter gaid unto Him, Lord, dost thou wash 
my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, If I wash 
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saitk 
unto Him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and 
my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needetb. 
not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit : and 
ye are clean, but not all. For He knew who should be- 
tray Him ; therefore said He, Ye are not all clean. 

So after He had washed their feet, and had taken His; 
garments, and was set down again, He said unto them, 
Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master 
and Lord : and ye say well ; for so I am . If I theD, your 
Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also ought 
to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an ex- 



222 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

ample, that ye should do as I have done to you . Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than 
his lord ; neither he that is sent greater than he that 
sent him. If you know these things, happy are ye if ye 
do them." John xiii. 1-17. 

This act, the feet-washing of Christ, was done 
to teach us how we should treat one another, how 
we should be ready and willing to serve one another 
out of love, cheerfully rendering even the humblest 
service unto our brethren. This excellent example 
was given us by our Lord and Master. He per- 
formed this menial service for His disciples two days 
before the passover, at Bethany, where they had 
prepared Him a supper. 

It is contrary to the nature and spirit of this 
transaction to make it a sacred custom, and to in- 
troduce it as such like baptism and communion, 
into the public worship. This never was the design 
of the act, nor was it ever so recognized by the 
apostles. If they had so recognized it, they would 
have instituted it as a sacred act and a ceremony of 
the church, just as they instituted baptism and com- 
munion as sacraments or sacred ecclesiastical usages. 

As, however, this view is disputed, and feet- wash- 
ing is regarded and performed by some as a sacred 
custom and churchly ceremony, the following is 
given to prove that this is an error, and that those 
people commit an act which is neither enjoined, 
nor sanctioned by the Scriptures. That they en- 
deavor to furnish arguments in favor of this non- 
Scriptural act, is certainly true ; but it is equally 
true, that this can not be successfully done. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 223 

I. Feet- Washing was not Commanded as a 
Ceremony. 

The chief argument employed by those favoring it 
is to be contained in the following words : " If I then, 
your Lord and Master, have washed your'feet, ye also 
ought to wash one another's feet." But He has 
not said that we should wash them in public wor- 
ship. We are to wash them " among ourselves" — 
one to another, as the necessities of private life may 
require ; for it was an act of necessity, by which 
He set the example. This example was not given 
to teach us to w r ash feet already washed; still less, 
to make the washing of clean feet a part of public 
worship. His very words "Know ye what I have 
•done to you?" — prove that there is a deeper mean- 
ing in this matter, and that it was meant to accom- 
plish something higher than the outward washing; 
for certainly they all knew that He had washed 
their feet. This meaning is explained by His say- 
ing: "Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say 
well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Mas- 
ter, have washed your feet, ye also ought to wash 
one another's feet. For I have given you an ex- 
ample, that ye should do as I have done to you." 
These words contain the true spirit of this act. It 
is the doctrine — the practical doctrine of humilia- 
tion and ready service. Thereby He teaches us 
what He means by saying : "He that is greatest 
among you, let him be as the younger; and he that 
is chief, as he that doth serve." Luke xxii. 26. 

That the feet-washing of the Lord was a neces- 



224 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

sary service, is further proved by His answer to the 
remark of Peter, who, rather than have no part in 
Him, would have not only his feet, but also his 
hands and his head washed: "He that is washed, 
needeth not save to wash his feet." The hands and 
the head were washed, and hence needed no wash- 
ing ; the feet w r ere not, and therefore needed it. 

The words of the Lord completely express this 
meaning. He peformed no needless work, as is 
done by those who make feet-washing a churchly 
custom; for the latter wash clean feet only — engage 
in an unnecessary business without rendering ser- 
vice to anybody. 

These services, being domestic and necessary, 
not ecclesiastical and unnecessary, are performed 
chiefly by the servants of the dwellers in the East 
upon travellers, strangers and guests; and the fact 
that their climate is warm and dry, and their shoes 
are not constructed like ours, but fastened to the 
feet with latchets, proves their necessity. This 
lowly and menial service our Lord took upon Him- 
self, not as servant or slave, but as Lord and Mas- 
ter; and thus gave us an example of self-denial., 
humiliation and ready service so convincing, so ex- 
cellent and conspicuous that every honest reader 
and searcher of the Scriptures may comprehend it 
at once. If He, our Lord and Master, is so con- 
descending as to perform for us the humblest ser- 
vice necessary in this life, how urgent is the 
propriety that we, in our station as His servants, 
should humble ourselves still more and be ready 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 225 

to serve one another in the spirit of self-deniaL 
The Lord still further expresses this meaning, in 
that He says : " Verily, verily, I say unto you : The 
servant is not greater than his lord, neither he that 
is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know 
these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Thus r 
and thus only, the disciples conceived the meaning 
of this act, as their actions and writings amply 
prove. Their whole life was in accordance with 
the example of the feet -washing, a life of humilia- 
tion, ready service and self-denial. This doctrine is 
contained in their writings, where, on the contrary 7 
no word is said of feet-washing as a ceremony. — 
According to this true conception of the above 
passage, it can never be used as an argument to> 
confirm the ceremony of feet-washing as such. 

II. Feet-Washing did not Take Place at the 
Passover. 

The second argument is based upon the asser- 
tion that the feet- washing took place immediately 
after the eating of the passover, and the institution? 
of the supper of the passiou and death of Christ. 
The conclusion which follows is, that if one is a. 
ceremonial service, the other must be the same. 

A word concerning the feast of the passover will 
not be out of place. Properly speaking, this is the 
Jewish passover, held on the evening of the four- 
teenth day of the month Nisan, and designated in> 
the German version of the New Testament by- 
seating the Easter-lamb." This passover or Eas 



2 26 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

ter-lamb was killed on the fourteenth of Nisan "in 
the evening," that is, between three o'clock in the 
afternoon and sunset; it was eaten in the evening 
at the beginning of the fifteenth day, for the Jews 
begin their days in the evening. This was the 
passover or feast of unleavened bread, also called 
the Easter-feast, and continued six days. As early 
as the fourteenth of Nisan all leavened bread had 
to be removed, so that there was none but unleav- 
ened bread on hand at the killing of the lamb.- — 
This is called "the first day of unleavened bread," 
though the feast of the latter, properly speaking, 
did not begin until the evening after sunset, at the 
beginning of the 15th. This time, when the Lord 
ate His last passover with His disciples, the 14th 
of Nisan fell on Thursday. 

On the 8th of Nisan, six days before the pass- 
over, Jesus came with His disciples to Bethany, a 
town about two miles from Jerusalem, John xii. 1. 
The 9th was the Jewish Sabbath. The 10th (Palm 
Sunday), He rode into Jerusalem amid the rejoic- 
ings of the people. This was the day on which 
the lamb of the passover was to be selected, Exod. 
xii. 2. On it He came, as purposely selected to 
become, for all the world, a paschal lamb that 
■ should endure forever. On the nth, Monday, He 
went back to Bethany, and cursed a fig-tree, Matth. 
xxi. 18, 19; Mark xi, 12-14. On Tuesday morn- 
ing, the 1 2th, being again on their way to Jerusa- 
lem, His disciples wondered at the withered fig-tree, 
Matth. xxi. 20-22. He had taught during the day 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 227 

in the temple, and retired at night to Bethany, 
Luke xxi. 37, 38. On Wednesday the 13th He 
was in Bethany again ; this was two days before 
Easter according to Jewish reckoning, (Matth xxvi. 
1-5 ; Mark xiv. 1-3), because the paschal lamb was 
to be killed on the 14th, and eaten in the evening, 
at the beginning of 15th. It was there (Bethany) 
that He washed His disciples' feet. Next day, the 
14th, the first day of unleavened bread, the dis- 
ciples asked Him : u Where wilt thou that we go 
and prepare, that thou mayest eat the passover?" 
Mark xiv. 12. He sent two of them into the city 
for that purpose, and in the evening He sat down 
with the twelve, Matth. xxvi. 20. No feet were 
washed there, (Jerusalem) for John expressly tells 
us that was done before the passover, and to say so 
would disturb the harmony of the evangelists. 

Read John xiii. 1-4, and you will find that he de- 
clares it was before, not after the Easter feast, after 
a supper, not after eating the passover, that Jesus 
washed His disciples' feet. The second word of 
ch. xiii., before, confirms the entire narrative beyond 
all doubt, showing clearly that it was not at the 
eating of the passover, for that could not be eaten 
before Easter, no more than a supper can be eaten 
at noon. If we eat a meal at noon, it is a dinner; 
if we eat it in the evening, it is a supper. Just so 
with the eating of a lamb ; eaten on Christmas it 
is a Christmas-lamb; eaten on Easterday it is an 
Easter-lamb. Nor has John anything to say of an 
Easter-supper, after which feet-washing took place, 



2 28 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

but he tells us that this happened after a supper 
"before the feast of the passover" — before eating 
the Easter-lamb. This is sufficient of itself to 
prove that it was not after, but before the supper 
of the passover. 

How long before, then, and where? "Six days 

before the passover, Jesus came to Bethany, 

there they made Him a supper," John xii. i, 2. — 
This supper was made for Him two days before the 
passover. Though it is said here that He came 
thither six days before, it is not said that this sup- 
per was made six days before, but simply that it 
was made there. Matthew and Mark tell us this 
supper was made for Him two days before the 
passover, at Bethany, in the house of Simon the 
leper. * See Matth. xxvi. 2, 6, 7, and Mark xiv. 1-3. 
In order that we may not err, three of the evan- 
gelists relate that at this supper Mary anointed the 
Lord with precious ointment of spikenard. See 
Matth. xxvi. 6-13; Mark xiv, 3-9; John xii. 3-8. 
After this supper in Bethany the Lord washed His 
disciples' feet. Matthew and Mark fix the time at 
two days before the passover; John says simply 
"before the passover," without mentioning how 
long. It was during this meal that the Lord said: 
"One of you shall betray me." John asked: — 
" Lord, who is it ? " The answer was: " He it is 
to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped 
it." And when He had dipped the sop, He gave 
it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after 
the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesu s 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 229 

unto him: "That thou doest, do quickly." No- 
body knew why the Lord said this to him, and, as 
Judas had the bag, they thought that He had said : 
" Buy those ihings that we have need of against 
the feast," John xiii. 21-29. After this supper and 
conversation Judas went out, (v. 30), and proceed- 
ed to sell his Master, while Jesus washed His 
disciples' feet. After that Jesus sat down and ex- 
plained to the disciples what He wished to teach 
them thereby, and said to Peter for the first time : 
"The cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me 
thrice," verse 38. 

Objection. Was not the assurance of the 
Lord, that one should betray Him, and the token 
of the sop as to who should do it, given to His 
disciples immediately after eating the passover? — 
Fiom Matth. xxvi. 21-23 an d Mark xiv. 18-20, 
nothing else can be inferred. How then can the 
assertion be true, that it happened before that time? 

Answer. It is true, the Lord said, while 
eating the passover : " One of you shall betray me.'' 
He said the same thing at the supper in Bethany; 
for He discussed many important things more than 
once, at different times and places. Thus, for ex- 
ample, plucking out the eye and cutting off the 
hand and the foot occurs twice in St. Matthew — in 
ch. v. 29, 30, and in ch. xviii. 8, 9; the putting 
away of a wife is found twice in the same words — 
in ch. v. 32, and ch. xix. 8. The words: "It shall 
be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Go- 
morrah" occur twice — in ch. x. 15, and ch. xi. 24; 



230 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

so also the sign of Jonas, in ch. xii. 39 and ch. xvi\ 
4, and others. Besides there are quite similar inci- 
dents and sayings, standing in two or three evan- 
gelists in such a connection that they must be 
distinguished. Thus, for example, the purification 
of the temple occurred both at the beginning and 
at the end of Christ's teaching, (John ii. 13-16, and 
Matth. xxi. 12-14), the salt that has " lost its savor" 
is mentioned thrice at different times — Matth. v. 
13, Mark ix. 50, and Luke xiv. 34, etc. And why, 
too, should the Savior not have taught one doctrine 
to different hearers and at different times? Why 
not have given the same warning or assurance more 
than once, in important cases? Certainly, that has 
been done. 

At the supper of feet- washing the Lord said : — 
"One of you shall betray me," John xiii. 21. He 
said the same while eating the passover, (Matth. 
xxvi. 21) ; but though the words are just the same, 
this is no proof that they were spoken at the same 
time and at one place. At the supper of feet- 
washing Christ made His betrayer known secretly 
to John only, by saying, (v. 26) : " He it is to whom 
I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it." At the 
passover He said : " He that dippeth his hand with 
me in the dish, the same shall betray me," Matth. 
xxvi. 23 ; Mark xiv. 20. Here, too, the disciples 
asked: "Lord, is it I ?" There nothing of the kind 
took place. Here he said : " He that dippeth with 
me in the dish;" there: "He to whom I shall give 
a sop." After receiving the sop which had been 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 23 I 

dipped, Satan entered into him; but that Satan 
had entered into Judas before the passover, is plain- 
ly seen from Luke xxii. 1-3. "Now the feast of 
unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the 
Passover. And the chief priests and scribes sought 
how they might kill Him ; for they feared the peo- 
ple. Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed 
Iscariot," etc. Here, then, Luke says, that the 
passover was drawing nigh, when Satan entered into 
Judas. Drawing nigh is not being at hand ; and as 
Satan entered into him after the sop at the supper 
of the feet-washing, that, too, must have taken place 
near the time of the passover, and not at that time. 
What says the reader to this? Further: when the 
Lord said to him: "That thou doest, do quickly,"* 
some of the disciples thought He said: "Buy those 
things that we have need of against the feast." — 
How could they think so, if they had already eaten 
the supper of the feast ? Therefore, the supper of 
the feet-washing can not have been that of the 
passover. Besides, Matthew, Mark and John de- 
clare that the traitor sold his master even before 
eating the Easter-lamb, and that, after the supper 
of feet-washing, at which Satan entered into him, 
"he went immediately out," to commit the deed 
that very night. It must have been before the 
passover, for otherwise it would disturb the har- 
mony of the evangelists. The next day, Thursday, 
the Lord sent two of His disciples to prepare the 
passover; Judas, who had promised to betray Him 
for thirty pieces of silver, and given them a kiss as 



232 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

a sign, rejoined the Lord and the remaining dis- 
ciples upon their return from Bethany, and in the 
evening they ate the passover together. Thus it 
was and not otherwise. 

Question. But how is the Lord's prediction 
of Peter's threefold denial, in John xiii. 38, to be 
made to harmonize with the other evangelists ? — 
They all declare that his denial was foretold to him 
by the Lord, with the sign of the crowing of the 
cock, after eating the passover. 

Answer. After the supper of feet-washing 
Peter's denial was foretold for the first time, and 
while eating the passover the prediction was re- 
peated. This is easily perceived in the dif- 
ference of the words themselves. After the feet- 
washing the Lord said: "The cock shall not crow 
till thou hast denied me thrice;" at the passover: 
"The cock shall not crow this day, before that thou 
shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me." The 
words *' this day" are given by Mark and Luke, 
and Matthew. says : "This night, before the cock 
crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." See Matth. 
xxvi. 34, Mark xiv. 30, and Luke xxii. 34. These 
•three evangelists, who speak of the second predic- 
tion of Peter's denial after the passover, all fix a 
time — " this day," and "in this night ;" while John, 
who mentions the first, or that made before Easter, 
fixes no time, but simply says: "The cock shall 
not crow," etc. This fact is a proof in itself, that 
-the same thing happened at different times. 

The doctrines contained in the fourteenth chapter 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 233 

of St. John were delivered by the Lord to His dis- 
ciples in Bethany, on Wednesday evening after the 
feet-washing, or on Thursday before His last going 
up to Jerusalem. When the time came to depart 
from Bethany, He said (v. 31): " Arise, let us go- 
hence." They went to the city, ate the last pass- 
over on Thursday evening — or on the beginning of 
Friday, according to Jewish reckoning — and enter- 
ed the garden of Gethsemane after singing a hymn 
— not after washing their feet; there Christ was 
taken prisoner, and on that same day, at three 
o'clock in the afternoon. He died. 

In order to present a better view of this matter 
I will subjoin an extract from Dr. Hauber's "Har- 
mony of the Evangelists." 

The reader may then judge for himself. 

Matt. Makk. Luke. John. 
xxvi. xiv. xxii. xii. 

TVo days before the pass- 
over, on Wednesday, the 
chief priests took coun- 
sel that they might kill 
Jesus 1-5. 1-2. 1-2. 

Christis anointed at Beth- 
any in the house of Si- 
mon 6-13. 3-9. 1-8. 

After supper he washes his xni. 

disciples' feet 2-1 1. 

He then testifies of His 
Betrayer 18-2&. 

Judas, having received the 
sop, goes unto the chief 
priests, and covenants 
with them to betray 
Jesus 14-16. 10-11. 3-6. 3a 

Jesus testifies of His glori- 
fication 31-35^ 

15 



234 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

Matt. Mark. Luke John. 
xxvi. xiv. xxii. xiii. 

Foretells to Peter his three- 
fold denial.. 36-33. 

On the first day of unleav- 
ened bread, Thursday, 
Jesus sends two dis- 
ciples from Bethany into 
the city, to prepare the 
passover 17-19. 12-16. 7-13 . 

Meanwhile He keeps up 
an agreeable discourse 
with the rest, comfort- 
ing, teaching and ex- 
horting them, until to- 
ward evening they go xiv. 
thence 1-31. 

In the evening He sits 
down at the table with 
His disciples, to eat His 
last passover 20. 17. 14-18. 

Finallv Jesus institutes 

the Holy Supper, and . . 26-29. 22-25. 19-20. 

Once more warns Peter of 
his approaching fall . . . 31-34. 

He offers up His high- 
priestly prayer, and, xvu. 
they having sung a 
hymn. He goes with 
His disciples over the 

brook Cedron unto the xvin, 

mount of Olives 30. 26. 39. i. 

While going, He again 
for tells to His disciples, 
and to Peter in particu- 
lar, their near fall ; but 
these declare themselves 
ready to go with Him to 
death 31-35. 28-31 . 

III. No Proof if the Argument be Granted. 

But, supposing that both these actions had taken 

place at one time, that still would not be a proof 

that both are ceremonies. The killing and eating. 

«f the paschal-lamb and the eating of unleavened 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 235 

"bread took place at the same time, yet the former 
only was instituted as a ceremony, and not the 
latter, though both were commanded by the Lord, 
Exod. xii. 1-15. Consequently, this argument also 
•can not stand the test, and must fall. 

IV. Feet-Washing has no Foundation in the 
Old Testament. 

leet- washing, if it be a ceremony, must have its 
institution in the Old Testament, as well as the 
ceremonies of baptism and the Lord's supper have 
them there. These we r e divinely- ordained as cere- 
monies in the old covenant, and confirmed as such, 
tinder different forms, in the new. God has but 
one plan of salvation, one church, one kingdom 
from the beginning to the end of the world; how- 
ever, this church, this empire appears and stands 
forth under different forms. 

The Holy Supper found its divine institution in 
the lamb of the passover, which, according to the 
command of God in Egypt, had to be killed and 
<eaten by the Israelites; a ceremony to be repeated 
every year, as may be seen in Exod. xii. 1-28. — 
This paschal-lamb was a type and a memorial of 
Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, that was to 
come, and is "slain from the foundation of the 
world," Rev. xiii. 8. Up to the coming of the true 
Lamb and His sacrifice for the sins of the world, 
this typical festival had to be repeated from year to 
year. Not until the reality was completed, the 
type could cease. 



236 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

The Lord's Supper is likewise a supper of re- 
membrance. It serves to remind us that the true 
Lamb of God has been killed and His blood shed. 
It is repeated also, for the Lord says: "This do ye,, 
as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." Its 
repetition is confirmed by Paul, when, in 1 Cor. 
xi. 26, he says: "For as often as ye eat this bread, 
and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death 
till He come." The church has received from the 
Lord the ministration of this supper, as a cere- 
mony divinely-ordained and established, in remem- 
brance of one sacrifice that brought satisfaction for 
the sins of all the world. But where is a mere 
shadow of this to be found in feet- washing ? 

Baptism also, as a ceremony of the church, is 
anchored in the Old Testament as a divine ordi- 
nance, under a different form: God made a cove- 
nant with Abraham and his seed, and as a sign of 
this covenant He gave circumcision, Gen, xvii. ii„ 
That baptism is the same in the New Testament 
that circumcision was in the Old, is. quite plainly 
seen in Col. li. 11, 12, where it is said: "In whom 
(Christ) also ye are circumcised with the circumci- 
sion made without hands, in putting off the body 
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of 
Christ; buried with him in baptism," etc. Here 
baptism and circumcision are one and the same 
thing. This is the promise of the covenant: "Ii> 
thee shall all families of the earth be blessed," Gen, 
xii. 3. The sign of the covenant was circumcision, 
which already pointed out the blessing contained in 



AN .HISTORICAL GUIDE. 237 

the promise— the circumcision of the heart, which 
Abraham received as a seal of the righteousness of 
faith, and his posterity in remembrance of the prom- 
ise made unto him. 

Baptism was instituted by Christ after His resur- 
rection, but with the command that His disciples 
should remain in Jerusalem till after the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit ; after that they should go forth 
into all the world, to teach and baptize all nations. 

Then, only, after salvation in Christ, was com- 
pleted by the outpouring of the Spirit, Christian 
baptism took its beginning. Thenceforth they 
could baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, 
and the Spirit, which, before that could not be 
done. As circumision was the sign and seal of the 
covenant which promised a blessing to all nations, 
so baptism is the " covenant of a good conscience 
with God," a sign showing that the salvation of the 
Gentiles is completed by the Seed of promise, a 
sign of the washing away of all sin through the 
blood of Christ, and of the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit, which is given unto us as an earnest and a 
seal. Eph. i. 13, 14, and ch. iv. 30. 

This then is the true state of the matter: Bap- 
tism and communion are ceremonial usages estab- 
lished by the Lord in the Old Testament, and under 
different forms, though still relating to the same 
thing, recognized and enjoined as such in the New. 
That feet- washing stands in no such relations what- 
ever, is a settled fact; and they who perform it as 
a sacred custom are guilty of a presumption that 



238 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

can not be justified, and for which they will not be 
able to answer. It can never be regarded as a 
ceremony. 

True, feet-washing is also to be found in the Old 
Testament; nowhere, however, as a diving ordi- 
nance, but simply as a domestic action necessarjr 
among men, who either performed it themselves, or 
had it done by others. Thus, for examp 1 ^, we find 
that, when Abraham, sitting at the door of his tent r 
saw three men coming to him, he prayed them not 
to pass by, and said: "Let a little water, I pray 
you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest your- 
self under the tree : and I will fetch a morsel of 
bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye 
shall pass on," Gen. xviii. 4, 5. In like manner 
Lot entreated the two angels, not knowing that 
they were angels, to stay with him over night and 
allow their feet to be washed. Gen. xix. 1, 2_ 
These were domestic actions, which the patriarchs 
offered to perform upon their guests; but a divine 
ordinance is altogether out of question here. La- 
ban gave water to the servant of Abraham, to wash 
his feet (Gen. xxiv. 32), and Joseph did the same 
to his brethren (ch. xliii. 24), but without con- 
ceiving the faintest shadow of a divinely ordained 
ceremony or form of worship in doing so. 

This domestic action arose in the East as a mat- 
ter of comfort and necessity ; it became a gerferal 
custom, and as such continues to this day. Their 
land is warm, sandy and dry; their shoes consisted 
of soles fastened to their feet with latchets ; their 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 239 

journeys were usually made on foot ; these circum- 
. stances made the frequent washing of the feet an 
absolute necessity. " The Ancient and Modern 
Orienf" by Dr. Rosenmuller, contains the follow- 
ing statements: " One of the first acts of hospitality 
was to offer water to the guest, to wash his feet." 
"As he enters, it is one of the first courtesies to 
offer him water to wash his feet. This is so indis- 
densably needfu], that water for washing the feet 
forms a part of the gifts presented to an idol." 
Now, I would not declare that its use in the church 
is not a part of idol-service to-day. 

Thus we have proved that baptism and commu- 
nion are anchored in the Old Testament as divine 
institutions, whereas feet-washing arose simply as a 
need of the people, and was never divinely estab- 
lished. Let the reader judge for himself whether 
it belongs to public worship, or not. 

V. Feet- Washing is not Sanctioned by Apos- 
tolic Doctrine or Example. 

The unreasonableness of making this act a cer- 
emonial service is seen in the fact, that it is not 
supported by the recognition and practice of the 
apostles. 

The apostles were the founders of the first 
Christian congregations; they acted under the 
command of the Lord: "Teach them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you." 
They were under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
who reminded them of all their Master had taught 
them, and led them into all the truth. Moreover, 



240 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

t'ley assure us that they had withheld nothing from 
their congregations, but revealed unto them the 
whole counsel of the Lord. These facts are proofs 
that they taught and introduced all that was nec- 
essary; and the fact that feet- washing was not 
taught and practiced by them, is a proof that it 
does not pertain to the church. 

Baptism and communion were introduced and 
administered in the first Christian congregations 
by the teaching and example of the apostles. At 
ihe first Pentecost about three thousand were bap- 
tized. Of these it is said, Acts ii. 42 : " They con- 
tinued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and 
fellowship, and of breaking of bread, and in prayers." 
Here we have baptism and breaking of bread (com- 
munion) included in the apostles' doctrine. Why 
not feet- washing also ? Because it does not belong 
thereto; if it did, it would be included. 

In Acts xx. 20-27, Paul asserts that he had kept 
back from the congregation at Ephesus nothing 
that was profitable unto them, and had "not shun- 
ned to declare unto them all the counsel of God." 
The breaking of bread (ch. xx. 7) and baptism (ch. 
xix. 1-6) were things that were profitable and be- 
longed to the counsel of God, and in these they 
were instructed. But feet-washing is again left 
out; and being so, can not be profitable, nor belong 
to the counsel of God ; otherwise, it would be 
mentioned. St. Paul also exhorts their bishops to 
take heed unto themselves, and to all the flock, 
because "of their own selves shall men arise, 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 241 

speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples 
after them." Ch. xx. 28-30. Among these "per- 
verse things" the doctrine of feet-washing must 
certainly be reckoned. As we have seen, it be- 
longs neither to the apostles' doctrine, nor to what 
is profitable, nor to the counsel of God; it must 
therefore belong to perversity. 

That Paul was not present when Jesus instituted 
His supper, is known to every one that reads the 
Scriptures. But he was appointed to plant the 
doctrines of Christianity, not excepting the cere- 
monies, among the heathen, and consequently 
needed revelations from the Lord. Therefore he 
was caught up to the third heaven, and there heard 
unspeakable things, 2 Cor. xii. 4. Hence he says, 
in I Cor. xi. 23-26: "I have received of the Lord 
that which also I delivered unto you, That the 
Lord Jesus, the same night he was betrayed, took 
bread: and, when he had given thanks, He brake 
it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is 
broken for you; this do in remembrance of me. 
After the same manner also he took the cup, when 
He had supped, saying, This cup is the new testa- 
ment in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, 
in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat 
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the 
Lord's death till He come." Now, if feet-washing 
belongs thereto, how is it that Paul did not receive 
this? He received only to deliver; why, then, 
should he not have received this highly prized the- 
ory, to deliver it again ? 



242 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

However, St. Paul has not forgotten the feet- 
washing. The advice he gave to his son Timothy 
in regard to the election of certain persons to cer- 
tain services in the church shows his opinion about 
it most plainly. He says: "Let no widow be 
taken into the number under threescore years old r 
having been the wife of one man, well reported 
of for good works; if she have brought up children, 
if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the 
saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she 
have diligently followed every good work." 1 Tinu 
v. 9, 10. Here we find this act in the right place 
— in domestic life, in connection with bringing up 
children, with hospitality, with assistance given to- 
the needy, and with other good works. Every 
reasonable man will leave it there, for there it 
always has been and there our Savior performed it.. 

Conclusion. ' 

The church has never recognized feet-washing: 
as a ceremony. At no time it was practiced as; 
such. Before the third century no one knew any- 
thing about it; not until so many abuses crept in, 
some one caught the idea of clothing those who 
were to be baptized all in white, and washing their 
feet after baptism; but even this custom was of 
short duration, and observed only here and there- 
It was then combined with baptism, and not witb 
the Lord's supper as it is now. True at the end of 
the fourth and the beginning of the fifth centuries,- 
the feet of the poor used to be washed at suppers 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 243 

in some localities; but this custom also did not 
continue long. 

Now, as heretofore, we still find superstitious- 
people, who adhere to this sort of thirgs, but who, 
as a rule, are ignorant of and inexperienced in 
true religion ; and the greater part of them are not 
this only, but they are insincere. Superstition be- 
lieves too much, and unbelief too little; still they 
are sisters. Those, feet-washers want to have 
everything done " according to the word," as they 
say; and yet it is they who farthest miss the word 
and the letter. They quote: "If I then, your 
Lord and Master, have washed your feet, ye also 
ought to wash one another's feet" " Here," they 
say, "it stands written that we should wash one 
another's feet." Let us see now whether they 
do so. 

Suppose there are forty persons together at such 
a feet-washing. Four of the forty then wash the 
feet of the rest ; thirty-six have them washed. Now 
to have washed is not to wash, and to wash is not 
to have washed. As a direct consequence, four 
fulfill this command, while thirty-six do not; still 
they think, when they are through with their un- 
scriptural theory, that all have fulfilled it. Let us 
see, in the next place, how those four obey the 
command. I have proved already that the Lord 
washed unclean feet; and the very word "washing" 
presupposes a necessity. They, however, wash 
clean feet only — doing an unnecessary business, 
and afterward imagining to have done everything 



244 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

according to the command and example of the 
Lord. But the Lord never gave us either com- 
mand or example to wash clean feet, nor to have 
clean feet washed ; because it would be an unnec- 
essary act. The presumption of making it a part 
of religious service is sinful and absurd. 



SECTION-IT. 



Was Judas Present ? 

" Was Judas present at the institution and eat- 
ing of the Holy Supper, or was he not? " 

This question has been discussed in the Protest- 
ant church for 350 years. It is raised again and 
again, simply because it is still considered undecid- 
ed. If those who argued it had rightly conceived 
the harmony of the gospels, no controversy about 
it would ever have arisen ; but since it has arisen, 
the expositors of the Bible have thought and writ- 
ten more according to the views of their respective 
churches, than according to the testimony of Holy 
Writ. Hence this confusion and the continuance 
of the dispute up to this day. 

The Scriptures positively states that Judas was 
present, when Jesus instituted His supper at Jeru- 
salem. The harmony of the gospels establishes 
the fact beyond all doubt, and nothing more is ne- 
cessary to a clear understanding of this matter, 
than a correct knowledge of that harmony. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 245 

When the disciples had prepared the passover at 
Jerusalem, Jesus sat down at the table "with the 
twelve" — not with eleven, Matt. xxvi. 20. "And 
as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed 
it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples" — to 
the twelve, verse 26. He also took the cup and 
said : " Drink ye all of it," v. 27. All twelve were 
meant, hence Judas was meant also. 

The evangelist Mark gives the same story in ch. 
xiv. 17-23, stating that Jesus sat at the table of the 
passover with the twelve, that He gave them the 
bread and the cup which He had blessed, and that 
"they all drank of it." 

St. Luke says in ch. xxii. 14-2 r, that Jesus sat 
down at the passover "and the twelve apostles with 
him." Having blessed and distributed the bread 
and the wine, He said: "This cup is the new 
Testament in my blood, which is shed for you," He 
added these momentous words : "Behold, the hand 
of him that betray eth me is with me on the table." 
Who else should betray Him but Judas Iscariot ? 
And if Jesus himself declares, that His betrayei 
was present at the table, when He blessed the bread 
and the cup, to institute a holy supper in remem 
brance of Himself, who of us can presume to say: 
It is not so ? These three evangelists agree in 
saying that Judas was present as a fellow-apostle r 
when the Lord instituted His supper. 

St. John reports nothing at all of the last pass- 
over, eaten by the Lord and His disciples, and 
consequently nothing of the institution of His 



246 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

memorial supper; but he tells us of an ordinary 
supper, which was made for Him in Bethany — not 
in Jerusalem — two days before the passover. Six 
days before the passover Jesus came to Bethany, 
a place two miles from Jerusalem, and " there they 
made him a supper," John xii. r, 2. Though He 
had come thither six days before the passover, this 
supper was made only two days before that festival. 
It was prepared in the house of Simon, and it was 
there that Mary anointed the head and feet of the 
Lord with costly ointment, to which demonstra- 
tions of love Judas objected. It was after this 
supper that Jesus washed His disciples' feet, and 
indicated to John who should betray Him. All the 
evangelists perfectly agree in regard to these trans- 
actions, as the following will show. 

It is said in Matt. xxvi. 1-7 : "J esus said unto 
his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the 
feast of the passover, and the Son of man is be- 
trayed to be crucified. Then assembled together 
the chief priests. . . .and consulted that they might 
take Jesus by subtilty, and kill Him. Now when 
Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the 
leper, there came unto Him a woman having an 
alabaster box of veryprescious ointment, and poured 
it on his head, as he sat at meat." 

St. Mark says in ch. xiv. 1-3: "And after two 
days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened 
bread. . . .And being in Bethany, in the house of 
Simon the leper, as He sat at meat, there came a 
woman having an alabaster box of ointmen of 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 247 

-spikenard, very prescious, . . . . and also poured it 
on his head." 

St. John says in ch. xii. 1-3: "Then Jesus, six 
days before the passover came to Bethany, where 
i;hey made Him a supper;. .. .then took Mary a 
pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and 
-anointed the feet of Jesus." In ch. xiii. 1, where 
St. John speaks of the same supper, he tells us that 
it was '"before the feast of the passover." These 
three evangelists then agree in regard to the 
place and the act there done : the former, the 
house of Simon at Bethany; the latter, the an- 
ointing of the Lord by Mary. Matthew and Mark 
say she anointed His head, and John says His 
feet; consequently, she anointed both His head and 
His feet. With respect to the time, all say " be- 
fore the passover." The former two say "two days 
J?efore the passover." St. John says simply "before 
the passover." All three agree in reporting the 
objection made by Judas Iscariot to the act of love 
performed by Mary. In ch. xiii. St. John adds, 
that after this supper Christ washed His disciples' 
feet. 

This supper, eaten at Bethany, in the house of 
Simon the leper, and all transactions connected 
therewith, has no connection whatever with the 
passover at Jerusalem; but, unless this distinction 
be observed, it is impossible to penetrate the thick 
mist of those 350 years of controversy. 

In ch. xiii. John relates what happened during 
-and after this supper at Bethany, giving an account 



248 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

not rendered by any of the other evangelists. He 
says in verses j, 2, 4: "Before the feast of the 

passover, supper being ended, he riseth 

from supper and began to wash the disciples' 

feet." Which supper was this? It was that eaten 
"before the feast of the passover, the Devil havings 
now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, to betray 
Him." Luke in ch. xxii. 1-3, tells us that the 
feast of unleaven bread was drawing nigh, and 
that then Satan entered into Judas, surnamed Is 
cariot, while John says that Satan entered into him 
during this supper made "before the passover.'^ 
Consequently, it was "before" and "near" the 
Easter supper, not during that. 

From verse 21-38 John reports the incidents of 
this supper. Judas objected to Mary's anointing 
the head and the feet of her Lord ; this objection 
may have induced the washing of the disciples r 
feet and the mournful words: "One of you shall 
betray me." "'Then the disciples looked one or* 
another, doubting of whom he spake." Upon 
which "Simon Peter therefore beckoned John, that 
he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.. 
He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto Him, 
Lord, who is it?" Jesus answered: "He it is, to 
whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it." 
And he gave it to Judas Iscariot, and after the sop 
Satan entered into him. H« then went immedi- 
ately out, and it was night. As the Jews before 
the passover were taking counsel how they might 
take Jesus by subtilty and kill Him, Judas this 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 249 

night went from Bethany to Jerusalem, and made 
a contract with them to betray Him, fixing the 
price at thirty pieces of silver. "For (he) said 
unto them, what will ye give me, and I will deliver 
Him unto you? And they were glad, and cove- 
nanted with him for thirty pieces of silver." Matt, 
xxvi. 14, 15, 16; Mark xiv. 10, n. Matthew, 
Mark and John all place this event at the time of 
the supper at Bethany, during which Mary anointed 
the Lord. 

When Judas had gone Jesus began to speak of 
His departure, and Peter asked him, "Lord, 
whither goest thou?" Jesus answered him: 
" Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but 
thou shalt follow me afterward." Peter thought he 
could lay down his life for his sake; but the Lord 
told him: "The cock shall not crow, till thou hast 
denied me thrice." This closes the account of the 
events at Bethany. The next day Jesus sent two 
of His disciples to Jerusalem, to prepare the pass- 
over; and in the evening, Judas having again put 
in his appearance, Jesus sat down "with the 
twelve " to eat the Easter lamb, and to institute 
the memorial supper of his suffering and death. 

Here then we are with Him in Jerusalem ; here 
He was not anointed by Mary, here the disciples'" 
feet were not washed. ■ Here the Lord did not say: 
" He it is, to whom I shall give a sop when I have 
dipped it," but: " He that dippeth his hand with 
?ne in the dish, the same shall betray me." Here 
16 



'250 • AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

He did not say unto Peter: "The cock shall not 
crow, till thou hast denied me thrice," but: " This 
night," or "This day, even this night, before the 
cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." In Beth- 
any it would have been too early to say so, but 
here it was not, Matt. xxvi. 34; Mark xiv. 30; 
Luke xxii, 34. This supper was the passover, 
and the institution of the Holy Supper was a part 
of its celebration, in which the twelve shared at 
Jerusalem, not at Bethany. 

Christ our Lord gave His church an excellent 
example of the manner of celebrating His holy 
supper. At all times the church has claimed the 
right of denying to some the privilege of this com- 
munion. Why did Christ not put back Judas? 
Simply because Judas had not yet accomplished 
his treason. He accomplished it in the garden, 
when he went before the multitude and kissed the 
Lord. Then the deed was finished and made 
known unto the world; then the Lord said: " Ju- 
das, betray est thou the Son of man with a kiss ! " 
Consequently, the church cannot turn any back 
from the communion-table on account of sins which 
they may do or intend to do hereafter. 

With equal propriety it might be said, that Peter 
should have been set back; fordid not he after- 
ward solemnly declare, that he knew not Jesus and 
was not His disciple? A man making such an 
assertion would by us be turned back; but should 
we have a right of doing so to one as pious as 
Peter was before he committed his sin of denial? 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 2 SI 



However, to make this fact a reason for admit- 
ting bare-faced and publicly known sinners to the 
table of the Lord's supper, would be a manifest 
disregard of a sacred ordinance of God. 



SECTION III. 



Paul's Thor — he Flesh. 

"And lest I should be exalted above measure 
through the abundance of the revelations, there 
was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger 
of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted 
above measure. For this thing I besought the 
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me," 2 Cor- 
inthian xii. 7-8. 

The figurative language of the Holy Scriptures 
must be considered aud treated with great care, and 
the figure carefully examined, if we want to get at 
the natural, and therefore correct Biblical meaning. 
Every Bible student knows that the subject before 
us is a much disputed one ; and that there is still 
room enough left for him to continue his studies 
until he has, to his own satisfaction, arrived at the 
natural meaning of this passage. 

The question now is, what are we here to under- 
stand by " Thorn given in the flesh?" — What by 
" messenger of Satan ? What by the bufFetings 
of this messenger?" A " thorn" is a sharp woody 
shoot from the stem of a tree or shrub. " Given 



252 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

in the flesh," means given in the body of the apostle.. 
Figuratively this thorn was something external by 
which the apostle's body was tormented; for it was 
"given in the flesh," that is, in the body of the 
apostle. 

" The messenger of Satan" The term " mes- 
senger" means one that is sent, an agent, a minis- 
ter. God's messengers or angels, are ministering 
spirits sent forth to minister unto the saints. Sa- 
tan's messengers or angels are the opposite. We 
read in Rev. xii. 7. " Michael and his angels fought 
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his 
angels." Here we have a combat : Michael and 
his angels fought for the establishment of God's 
kingdom on earth, and Satan, under the image of 
a dragon, and his angels fought for the establish- 
ment of the kingdom of Satan on earth. These 
two parties represent two governments or authori- 
ties. The civil government or authority which 
protects the right and punishes the wrong is called, 
in Rom. xiii. 4, "the minister of God," and m 1 
Peter ii. 14, the officers of such government are 
designated as sent by the Lord. But when a gov- 
ernment judges unrighteously, and pronounces un- 
just sentences, and executes unjust penalties upon 
the innocent, then is such a government nothing 
less than Satan's minister or agency to accomplish 
evil. Satan used, at that time, the governmental 
authorities as a rod of correction to chasten the 
apostle with stripes, bonds and imprisonment. — 
This civil or governmental authority was therefore 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 253 

'Satan's minister, agent, angel and messenger through 
which he executed the penalties. 

This messenger of Satan is a buffeting agent. — 
This buffeting can only mean an external punish- 
ment of the body by violent methods. It is from 
without, as the thorn is driven into the flesh with- 
out. Hence this buffeting can only have reference 
to the scourgings and other ill treatment the apos- 
tle received at the hands of the authorities. 

Many are of the opinion that by this "thorn" is 
meant a physical and an external disease which 
showed itself in an. unpleasant countenance, or 
perhaps in various distortions of the body, by rea- 
son of which he appeared contemptible in the eyes 
of the people; and that therefore Paul prayed the 
Lord for deliverance. It cannot mean a physical 
disease, for the " thorn " and the buffeting of Sa- 
tan's messenger mean one and the same thing. It 
was given by the buffeting of Satan's messenger 
into the flesh, and buffeting can only be given from 
without ; and therefore the idea that it was an in- 
firmity of the body does not answer the figurative 
language of this Scripture passage. Besides this 
there is no evidence at hand to show that Paul was 
troubled with any special physical infirmity ; on 
the other hand are his long and tedious journeys, 
by day and by night, his stripes and bonds, his im- 
prisonments and his being stoned, — without his 
physical powers giving way; the best evidence of a 
thoroughly sound and healthy body. A sickly per- 
son could not have endured the half of it Others 



254 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

contend that we are to understand the false apos- 
tles at Corinth, who were as painful and torment- 
ing to Paul as a thorn in the flesh. But this can 
not be correct, as they caused him no special phy- 
sical suffering, but only severe spiritual conflicts 
and painful sorrow of soul As the thorn in the 
flesh can only have reference to physical sufferings 
therefore this view does not answer the figurative 
language of the text. If it had been the false 
apostles, then this thorn would not have been given 
to him until fourteen years after he had received 
this abundance of revelation y for he received this 
revelation fourteen years before. 

The thorn was given him that he should not exalt 
himself; and if it was not necessary to give him 
something to keep him humble during these four- 
teen years, it might not have been necessary for 
the next fourteen years. This object, viz: keeping 
the apostle humble, was not gained through those 
false apostles; we might sooner prove the opposite,, 
since he, on this account, believed it proper to in- 
dulge a little in vainglory, by which he had almost 
made a fool of himself. For he says: "I am be- 
come a fool in glorying." These false apostles in- 
stead of keeping Paul humble rather caused him 
to exalt himself and to glory in what he had done. 
Still, since the cau^e of his glorying was not selfish- 
ness bat his jealousy for the truth we may bear a 
little with him in his folly. 

Others, again, are of the opinion that Paul had 
weak eyes, caused by the light from heaven which 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 255 

shone round about him, when on his way to Dam- 
ascus, so that he was three days without sight \ and 
in consequence of this he may have had a life long 
weakness of his eyes, and this weakness may have 
been that which is here meant by the " thorn in the 
flesh." This opinion can not be correct, since that 
was a divine manifestation — a manifestation of 
light, brighter than the mid-day sun ; and divine 
and heavenly manifestations are not the buffetings 
of Satan. Neither are they alike in their results; 
hence this view is not applicable in this case. 

We now come to a closer examination of the 
natural and enforced meaning of this passage. — 
We have already seen that this " messenger of Sa- 
tan" represents a civil government which allows its 
power to be used, by Satan, in works of unright- 
eousness. We understand however by this term t 
specially the Jewish economy; although the Jews 
w r ere subject to Roman authority they had still the 
right to a limited extent, to manage things accord- 
ing to their own laws; for their nationality had at 
this time not yet altogether ceased. Through the 
ruling power of the chief piiests and elders, and 
the Sanhedrim, was Christ, the Prince of Life" 
put to death, (Acts hi. 14-15), although the killing 
itself was done by the Romans. So it may have 
been in some cases with Paul, that the punish- 
ment was inflicted by Roman authority, but in 
almost every instance the chief rulers of the Jews 
were the cause of it, and hence this "messenger of 
Satan is a true picture or symbol of the hostile au- 



256 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

ihority of the Jews against Christ and his kingdom. 

The malicious condemnations, and the execu- 
tion of the penalties, of such authorities are alto- 
gether, without constraint, applicable to the "mes- 
senger of Satan" and his buffetings, which is the 
€l thorn given in the flesh." Paul says : " In stripes 
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths 
oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes 
save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once 
was I stoned! 1 2 Cor. xi. 23-25. By this we see 
how fearfully he was maltreated, ?nd how the 
thorn was driven into his flesh by the buffeting of 
this messenger of Satan. Openly, before thou- 
sands of witnesses, was he, by the Jews, five times 
scourged as a malefactor; and three times, accord- 
ing to the Roman custom, beaten with rods, and 
all this without cause, at different times, and in 
different cities, and nearly, if not altogether naked. 
What an injustice, this, against the true and honest 
modesty of an innocent man ! Is this not devilish? 
According to Jewish, and according to Roman law 
they had no right to inflict a single stripe, for Paul 
was not a transgressor of the law; and therefore 
the authorities which pronounced condemnation 
and inflicted punishment upon him, were the agency 
or messenger of Satan. 

Only those who had forfeited their lives accord- 
ing to law, were stoned; and as such was he 
stoned until they thought he was dead; and at 
Ephesus he was, as such, thrown to the wild beasts. 
All this transpired through the chief rulers of the 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 257 

Jews, who had an irreconcilable hatred against 
Paul. The cause of this was, probably, because 
he had been their co-laborer in persecuting the 
Christians ; and for this reason they were also his 
bitterest enemies. Therefore it scarcely ever hap- 
pened that he obtained a proper hearing before the 
courts of justice, for the charges alleged against 
him, but his condemnation was brought about 
more under the influence of the uproar and tumult 
and stormy outcries of the people. At Antioch 
the Jews stired up the chief men of the city, and 
raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and 
expelled them out of their coasts. Acts xiii. 50. 
At Iconium there was an uproar among the peo- 
ple and their rulers to stone Paul and Barnabas 
Acts xiv. 5. At Lystra where certain Jews had 
come from Antioch and Iconium they persuaded the 
people to stone Paul, and having done so they drew 
him out of the city, supposing he had been dead 
At Philippi, in an uproar of the people, the 
clothes were rent off from Paul and Silas ; then 
many stripes were laid upon them and afterwards 
they were imprisoned. Acts xvi. 22, 23. At 
Thessalonica the Jews set all the city in an uproar 
and Paul and Silas escaped by night to save their 
lives. Acts xvii. 5, 10. At Jerusalem the whole 
city was in a tumult and in a great throng of peo- 
ple, they laid hands on him intending to kill him. 
So furious were the Jews that they made a great 
cry and cast off their clothes, and threw dust in the 
air. Acts xxi, xxii. 



258 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

In the heat of such stormy and passionate move- 
ments of the people, which were generally insti- 
gated by the chief rulers of the Jews, who had the 
administrations of their laws in their hands,, Paul 
was condemned and received such unrighteous 
penalties. It was this malicious hatred of the 
rulers of the Jews, and the sufferings and tribula- 
tions caused thereby, from which he wished to be 
delivered, and for which he besought the Lord 
thrice that it might depart from him. This was 
the "thorn given in his flesh." Already at Damas- 
cus they desired to kill him. His feelings towards 
them were quite different. The language in which 
he expresses the sentiments of his heart is Rom. x. 
1 : "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God 
for Israel is that they might be saved." He would 
like them to have the same feeling towards himself 
but instead of this they are his bitterest enemies 
and opposers. He saw that through this opposition 
he was hindered and weakened in his work. 
Thrice he besought the Lord that this opposing, 
and to him, weakening power might depart from 
him. But the Lord said unto him: "My grace is 
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect 
in weakness." Before this the Lord had said: " It 
is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." And 
further: "I will show him how great things he 
must suffer for my name's sake," Acts ix. 5, 16. 
Here where Paul thought he was hindered and 
weakened in his apostolic work the Lord says : 
"my grace is sufficient for thee." According to 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 259 

this view of the united operation of suffering and 
grace the object or design, why this thorn has been 
given to him, is accomplished. For by this he 
was constantly reminded of the greatness of the 
wickedness of persecuting Christians, and since he 
experienced it in himself, he accordingly learned 
the enormity of this sin; and now in reviewing his 
past actions it awakened deep feelings of humility 
towards his God and of compassion towards his 
persecutors. On the other hand he also learned to 
esteem more highly the indescribable greatness of 
the power of grace in Christ which was given him 
to see in the abundance of the revelation from 
God, and which he, as the chief of sinners, re- 
ceived. 

One word about Paul's weakness according to 
the flesh. As a thorn driven into the flesh makes 
a wound and after healing leaves a scar, so have 
these maltreatments of the apostle left their marks 
and scars upon his body. Those which he received 
by being stoned, and in his combat with the wild 
beasts may have been more external, (in his face 
and on his hands) and more visible than others. — 
He says: "I bear in my body the marks of the 
Lord Jesus," Gal. vi. 17. On account of his 
manifold public chastenings, he was everywhere 
known as a malefactor. Came he to a place where 
he was personally unknown, so knew the gathered 
multitude directly by the marks and scars on his 
body, that this was the ring-leader of " these that 
have turned the world upside down," Acts xvii. 6. 



260 AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 

In this and only in this consists his weakness ac- 
cording to the flesh,* of which he speaks frequent- 
ly. The chief rulers of the people were against 
him, and for this reason the common people saw 
only a transgressor of the law in him. This belief 
was confirmed and strengthened by seeing these 
marks which he received as penalty according to 
to law, on his body. According to the flesh he was 
weak, in the eyes of man; weak before the world; 
not however in his physical nature. When he per- 
secuted the Christians he was "strong before the 
world;" the chief rulers were on his side; the 
strong arm of civil power was his support ; he was 
commissioned by the authorities to execute his evil 
work. But in his gospel work everything was the 
reverse. Hence his weakness. 

He learned to know what Christ meant when he 
said, "My strength is made perfect in weakness," 
for he wrote to the Corinthians, "God hath chosen 
the weak things of the world to confound the things 
that are mighty, i Cor. i. 27. Again, "Most glad- 
ly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, 
that the power of Christ may rest upon me; — for 
when I am weak, then am I strong," 2 Cor. xii. 8, 
9. This is the meaning, weak before the world, 
but strong in God. 

In Galati^ he preached in weakness, according 
to the flesh ; and he calls this weakness "tempta- 
tion." "And my temptation which was in my flesh, 
ye despised not, nor rejected," Gal iv. 14. 

*And not in bodily disease. 



AN HISTORICAL GUIDE. 26 1 

Temptations of Satan, and bufferings of his angel ' 
or messenger were they. " Wherefore," says he to 
the Ephesians iii. 13, "I desire that ye faint not at 
my tribulations for you, which is your glory." That 
the manifold punishments inflicted upon him were 
injurious and physically weakening to him, is quite 
natural; but that his weakness according to the 
flesh was a physical weakness is not to be accepted 
as correct. 

Paul was weak before the world but strong in 
the grace of God, which was given him according 
to the greatness ,of his power. Such are the ways 
of the Lord, that he chooses the foolish things of 
the world, to confound the things that are wise ; 
and the weak things of the world to confound the 
things that are mighty ; and the things that are 
not, to bring to nought the things that are, 1 Cor. i. 
27, 28. "Thererore I take pleasure in infirmities, 
in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in dis- 
tress for Christ's sake : for when I am weak then 
am I strong," 2 Cor. xii. 10. 

THE END. 



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